6 Benefits of Time and Labor Management Software

Human Capital Management (HCM) systems typically consist of four main functional areas: Time and Labor Management (TLM), payroll, HR, and benefits. However, the solution that holds the highest potential ROI of the core four, is time and labor.

Benefits of Time and Labor Management Software

While the total value of a unified HCM system exceeds the sum of its parts, each one of the core four solutions – TLM, payroll, HR, and benefits – can also drive significant value.

In our experience over many years of selling, implementing, and supporting HCM systems, Time and Labor Management Software gets the least amount of attention, is the most underappreciated, and yet often presents the biggest opportunity to return huge value to the organization that enables the solution.

Aside from the software helping to ensure accurate timekeeping, there are many other, more specific benefits that come with time and labor management software. 

Misconceptions about Time and Labor Management

One issue we often encounter is that time and labor management suffers from an image problem. Time and labor management goes by many different names, with no generally agreed-upon standard term. Examples include Time & Attendance, Time and Labor Management, Workforce Management, Time-tracking, and even Time Clocks or the dreaded Punch Clock.

Second, many people think of the old punch clock when they hear the term time and labor management.

Of course, time clocks have evolved far from those old mechanical dinosaurs. Today, they are electronic, often use biometrics instead of time cards, and quite frequently the clock is entirely replaced by a mobile phone or desktop computer.

Third, many people mistakenly think that time and labor management is only for hourly workers and not salary or exempt workers. In reality, this isn't true. Even salaried employees sometimes must record or input hours worked.

Finally, people assume that time and labor management is just about tracking hours worked, while again, in reality, it can be used to improve productivity, track labor costs, manage compliance, and employee engagement.

Other Time and Labor Management Modules

Time and labor management encompasses much more than tracking hours worked. It now includes:

• Accrual tracking
• Absence and leave management
• Scheduling
• Workforce planning
• Attestation and labor allocation

Time and labor management provides insights and information that enables workers and managers to make more informed and better decisions, all while eliminating significant waste.

Here are some of the biggest benefits of deploying time and labor management as a part of a cloud-based, unified HCM solution.

6 Benefits of Time and Labor Management

The following 6 benefits are just the biggest reasons (not all) as to why businesses should implement modern, time and labor management software. 

Reduced Time Inflation or Theft

Employers can reduce time inflation and/or theft by:

• Using rounding rules to keep employees from clocking in “just a few minutes early” day after day after day
• Eliminate buddy punching through biometrics
• Eliminate the ability to falsify or “fudge” records (e.g., by requiring employees to clock in and out only at certain IP addresses or geo-coordinates if mobile)

Manage Absenteeism

Employers can manage absenteeism with:

• Visibility in real-time to see who is available to fill the absence
• Automatically record absences
• Notifications to managers when absences occur or exceed thresholds
• Easily confirmed eligibility for paid/unpaid leave based on user-defined criteria

Reduce Unnecessary Overtime

Employers can reduce unnecessary overtime using:

• Real-time visibility in employee hours worked
• Notifications when hours approach overtime or schedules exceed budget
• Accurate, up-to-date schedules
• Highly configurable rules engine applies overtime rules relevant to each workplace jurisdiction

Manage FMLA/Leave

Employers can manage FMLA and other types of leave by:

• Tracking and managing benefit data such as vacation and sick time for ALL employees, including salaried and Exempt.
• Eliminating “Leave inflation” by the proper deduction of PTO through the system
• Automating federal, state and company leave requirements
• Automating eligibility determination for benefits such as vacation time, sick leave, and FMLA
• Receiving automatic alerts to flag action items

Reduce Wage and Hour Compliance Costs and Risks

Employers can manage compliance with:

• The ability to track part-time vs. full-time work
• Calculating and managing rules across multiple locations and jurisdictions
• Creating and sustaining a culture of compliance and accountability among your entire workforce
• Minimizing overtime
• Centralizing wage and hour policy administration
• Maintaining detailed audit records
• Attestation by employees of the accuracy of hours worked

Increase Labor Productivity

Employers can increase labor productivity by:

• Planning and managing labor costs across a widely dispersed organization
• Tracking hours worked by location, department, job, and more
• Using labor allocation and job costing visibility
• Using intelligent scheduling engines to allocate skilled resources to meet short and long-term needs
• Using volume-based workforce planning
• Taking advantage of increased administrative productivity through automation, error reduction, and capturing data at the source
• Helping supervisors and managers make better decisions due to increased visibility of real-time data, information, and insights

Get Started with Modern Time and Labor Management

Businesses that are struggling to achieve any of the benefits above, or who are simply looking to take another step toward modernizing their workforce should seriously consider a modern time and labor system. 

To see how we are already helping countless businesses with their time and labor management, contact us today.