Time and attendance systems (TNA) are used to track and monitor when employees start and stop work. A time and attendance system enables an

employer Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any o ...

to monitor their employees working hours and late arrivals, early departures, time taken on breaks and absenteeism. It also helps to control labor costs by reducing over-payments, which are often caused by paying employees for time that are not working, and eliminates transcription error, interpretation error and intentional error. TNA systems can also be used to ensure compliance with labor regulations regarding proof of attendance.

Manual systems

Traditionally manual systems were used that rely on paper cards which have times stamped onto them using a time stamping machine. Such machines were used for over a century but have since been phased out and replaced with cheaper automated systems which eliminate the need for payroll staff to manually input employee hours.

Automated systems

Modern automated time and

attendance Attendance is the concept of people, individually or as a group, appearing at a location for a previously scheduled event. Measuring attendance is a significant concern for many organizations, which can use such information to gauge the effectiven ...

systems require employees to touch or swipe to identify themselves and record their working hours as they enter or leave the work area. Originally this consisted of using a

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

electronic tag Electronic tagging is a form of surveillance that uses an electronic device affixed to a person. In some jurisdictions, an electronic tag fitted above the ankle is used for people as part of their bail or probation conditions. It is also used i ...

or a

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...

badge but these have been replaced by

biometrics Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify i ...

(vein reader,

hand geometry Hand geometry is a biometric that identifies users from the shape of their hands. Hand geometry readers measure a user's palm and fingers along many dimensions including length, width, deviation, and angle and compare those measurements to meas ...

, fingerprint, or facial recognition), and touch screens devices.

Application based systems

The latest technology allows the use of app (

Application software Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...

) based

Geo-fence A geofence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. A geofence could be dynamically generated (as in a radius around a point location) or match a predefined set of boundaries (such as school zones or neighborhood boundaries). T ...

capabilities. Allowing an employee to clock in & out only when they are within an

Internet geolocation In computing, Internet geolocation is software capable of deducing the geographic position of a device connected to the Internet. For example, the device's IP address can be used to determine the country, city, or ZIP code, determining its geogr ...

Facial recognition system A facial recognition system is a technology capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces. Such a system is typically employed to authenticate users through ID verification services, and ...

s are also available with these app based software technologies, eliminating the need of

Fingerprint scanner Fingerprint scanners are security systems of biometrics. They are used in police stations, security industries, smartphones, and other mobile devices. Function Everyone has patterns of friction ridges on their fingers, and it is this pattern ...

References

{{Reflist Human resource management Working time

Manual systems

Automated systems

Application based systems

See also

References