Posted on 22-Aug-08 by The Timekeeper

You’re probably familiar with the term “buddy-punching” but just in case you aren’t — buddy-punching is the practice of one employee clocking in or out for another to cover up the fact that the second employee isn’t present at the worksite when he or she should be.

Anyway, what brings this to mind is that I just ran across an offline article that said 19% of staff engage in buddy-punching at least once a year (according to research firm Nucleus Research).

I’m guessing a lot of those 19% may think of buddy-punching as harmless. I mean, after all, it’s just a few minutes, and it saves Joe or Sue from getting in trouble for being late or lets them cut out a little early to pick up their kid or get ready for that big date or whatever. And besides, they know Joe or Sue would do the same for them if they were running late.

Maybe you as an employer think it doesn’t happen at your place of business. But with 19% of employees being willing to admit they’ve done it, it’s a good bet the actual number of those who have done it is higher. If you have employees who clock in and out, they’ve probably buddy-punched unless you’ve got supervisors watching them like hawks when they clock in and out (and maybe even then, depending on how good your employees are at sleight of hand).

Or you might not think it’s that big of a deal. According to the article, though, buddy-punching is directly responsible for employer losses ranging from 1.5% to 3% of gross payroll — which isn’t exactly something to sneeze at. If you have 10 employees making $25,000 each per year, that amounts to a loss of between $3,750 and $7,500 per year. That’s time you’re paying people when they’re not even in the building, much less working.

Because of this, biometric time and attendance systems are getting closer looks from a lot of employers. Biometric systems require employees to furnish some kind of proof of who they are — generally either by scanning their finger or their entire hand — before they can clock in or out.

Basically, what it means is: nobody else can clock in or out for Joe or Sue.

Most, if not all, of the major time and attendance vendors have at least one biometric-enabled system, so you’ve got plenty of choices. Many offer several options, so with a little shopping around you’re bound to be able to find a system that will work for you. With basic systems starting at less than $250, and a pretty wide selection available for less than $1,000, even relatively small businesses should be able to afford to implement a biometric solution — especially when you consider how much you could be saving by eliminating buddy-punching! (Not to mention no longer having to buy time cards, and the time you can save by downloading data directly to your payroll system instead of keying it in from the time cards…)

And in today’s economy, who doesn’t want to save some money? Might be worth checking out!

Related Posts

• The Case for Biometrics
• The Venerable (and Still Viable) Punch Clock
• Paychex Announces Web-based Time and Attendance System
• It Only Works If You Use It

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