Time recording: the most important information for companies
Time recording is of interest to all companies that employ staff. Sooner or later, they will ask themselves whether and to what extent they should record and evaluate their employees’ working times. After all, when it comes to determining the basic data for payroll accounting or correctly assigning working hours to projects, accurate working time recording is a must. In addition, entrepreneurs must comply with numerous legal regulations from employment law when it comes to recording their employees’ working hours. In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about recording working time in companies.
What exactly is time recording?
Time recording means that the working hours of employees in a company are systematically recorded, at least the beginning and end. Numerous methods make this possible, e.g. electronic time recording systems. These make personnel time recording particularly easy and offer many advantages:
Working times can be recorded to the minute without any effort. Employees’ attendance times are stored in databases. This allows important key figures to be analyzed and evaluated, such as the company’s productivity. The results can in turn be used to derive measures to improve work processes.
The conventional time clock, into which employees inserted their own cardboard to record their hours, has already been replaced by more modern methods in many companies. Whether fingerprint, electronic personnel time recording or software-based time management – today’s market offers a wide range of solutions.
Why time recording?
In the past, working times were mainly recorded to monitor employees. Today, systematic time recording is a component of flexible corporate management. Modern technology makes it possible, even for SMEs.
Accurate, automatic and cost-saving – these are the top arguments for medium-sized companies to use electronic time recording systems.
Short film “REINER SCT timeCardtime recording – Why time recording?”
Systematic time recording: facts and figures
68%, i.e. over two thirds of SMEs in Germany, record their employees’ working hours. The main reasons for this are:
- Determination of overtime (22%)
- Documentation of actual working hours (21%)
- Control over adherence to working hours (19%)
70% of these companies use an electronic system to record hours. 30% still do this manually – using timesheets, Excel lists or a time clock without software evaluation.
This chart shows the significance of the advantages of electronic working time recording for SMEs:
The advantages of electronic systems for time recording
Which functions are important for users of electronic time recording systems? We asked[FS1]. The result: 40% see it as a particular advantage that they can evaluate working times more quickly and easily than without a system. 30% state that they receive more detailed information about employees’ sick days and overtime. 14% are pleased about the savings in personnel and administration costs and 12% about the time savings. 4% explicitly emphasize that the motivation of their employees has increased since the introduction of the system.
Analysis options of systems for systematic personnel time recording
For whom is systematic working time recording useful?
- Small and medium-sized enterprises
- Liberal professions
- Industries with mandatory recording
- Building trade
- Forwarding / Logistics / Transportation
- Forestry
- Building cleaning
- Set-up / dismantling trade fair
- Meat industry
- Show business
Where is personnel time recording needed?
The Working Hours Act, which applies in the Federal Republic of Germany and the “German Exclusive Economic Zone in the North Sea and Baltic Sea”, ensures the health protection of employees. It limits the maximum daily working hours and stipulates minimum rest breaks during work and minimum rest periods after work.
According to § Section 16 (3) of the Working Hours Act employers are obliged to record working hours that exceed 8 hours per day. These records must be kept for at least 2 years. No specific form is prescribed by law. Electronic time recording systems are ideal for this purpose. This is because their records make it possible to recognize at a glance if the 8-hour daily working time has been exceeded.
How and whether an employer must record the working hours of its employees is regulated by the Working Hours Act (AZG) and the Rest Periods Act (ARG). These contain precise regulations on daily and weekly working hours and the corresponding rest periods. If working time is not recorded in accordance with the Working Hours Act, Austrian companies must expect penalties. The limitation period for prosecuting violations of working time and rest periods is 6 months. The same applies in the event that working time records are completely missing.
A new ordinance on recording working hours creates legal certainty and administrative relief for employees and employers. The Labor Act, which generally stipulates a complete and detailed recording of working hours, creates two new forms of working time recording.
Systematic time recording is a key issue for any company that employs staff. Not only because employers must comply with the provisions of the Labor Act, but also because electronic time recording systems offer companies the opportunity to evaluate their employees’ working hours and absences more easily and quickly, thus saving a lot of time and money.
