Tracking and managing employee attendance is critical as it impacts business productivity, timely deliveries, and payroll distribution (especially for hourly workers).
However, when your team is scattered across different locations because of remote working, overseeing and monitoring their attendance becomes a challenge.
So, how to effectively manage time and attendance for remote workers without overwhelming them with the additional task of tracking their own time?
To help you answer this question and learn more, this blog unveils some infallible tips on How to Manage Time and Attendance for Remote Workers.
Craft a Clear Policy
If you decide to implement any attendance tracking system for your remote employees then document everything in the form of an attendance policy. It should briefly explain why this specific policy is requisite for workers who are working in a remote work setting.
This policy will give an idea to remote workers why your organization needs this policy, how it will benefit the business, why you’re necessitating this policy for employees, and how they’re planning to implement it.
The policy should establish transparent expectations for the workers and must include all the relevant details clearly and concisely.
It may include:
- How many hours are mandatory to work
- How to use the away time
- The leave policy and how to avail of it
- The available leave types and the criteria to use them
- How to use an attendance tracking system to clock in and out
The policy should elucidate all the details related to the attendance tracking system, along with the consequences for not complying with the expected attendance criteria. This policy will ensure that remote employees abide by the rules and policies implemented.
You can also have a Q&A session with employees to answer any queries they may have and to ensure they’re well-acquainted with the rules and regulations.
Have a Flexible Attendance Policy
Stringent attendance policies and criteria can sometimes do more harm than good. Not providing employees with sufficient time off, flexible work timings, or micromanaging them can lower their morale and motivation toward work.
It’s good to offer a flexible attendance policy and work culture that provides them with the work-life balance they seek without compromising on the quality of work.
For instance, a flexible work schedule such as Flexitour is a great option for remote workers that requires them to work 40 hours a week and 8 hours each day but gives them flexibility to choose their start and end times.
Cloud-Based Calendars to Track Deadlines and Important Dates
Image Source: Google Workspace Updates
Managing attendance shouldn’t insist solely on working the required amount of time each day. They should also consider how productive employees are in remote work settings so that the project can be completed on time.
To improve the attendance and efficiency of employees, employers can use cloud-based calendars, such as Google Calendar, which can help them keep track of their important meetings, deadlines, or any urgent deliverables.
This calendar gives visibility to remote employees regarding who is working on which project and their login hours, making it easy to collaborate with other teammates.
Leveraging Attendance Tracking Software
Gone are the days when arduous methods, such as spreadsheets, punch cards, etc, were the only options to track employees’ attendance. These were also prone to human errors and time theft.
With the advent of technology, robust solutions such as time and attendance software have streamlined this process. Here, whenever the remote workers log in or log out during the day, their attendance is automatically recorded in the system.
This tool and software also generate insightful reports that give real-time visibility into the number of hours and days employees worked and leaves availed by them.
However, the employee attendance tracking software you choose for your remote workers must be easy to use & intuitive, with automatic clock-in reminders and real-time tracking features.
Note: Some of the attendance tracking tools come with GPS tracking features, which benefit workers who work remotely but their jobs require field work, such as construction staff. GPS tracking keeps managers apprised of the location of workers so they can be assigned work in their nearby area.
Empower Employees With Absence Calendar
Employers can leverage any attendance scheduling software with the absence calendar feature. The absence calendar provides a holistic view of employees’ requested and approved time off in their schedule and helps them apply for the leaves. Moreover, the absence calendar keeps coworkers posted about employees who are on time off on a certain day.
When employees can track their leaves, such as the total number of requested leaves, approved leaves, and leftover leaves, they can plan their future leaves accordingly.
Empowering employees with such feasibility gives them control over their time and prevents the occurrence of unexpected absences.
Assessing the Attendance Report
The reports from attendance management software can be used to analyze the clock-in and clock-out data of employees. This assessment will give the brief about:
- Their clock-out and clock-in times
- Their duration of breaks
- Total number of hours when they were logged in
- Days when they were not punctual
- The absenteeism pattern (if any)
Equipped with this data, managers, and employers can identify those employees who – clock in late or clock out soon, have login hours below the minimum, or have certain absenteeism patterns.
These metrics help employers gain insights into punctuality trends and absenteeism rates in the remote work culture.
Tip: Employers can have a one-on-one discussion with these employees to understand if there’s any specific reason behind such attendance patterns and unpunctuality and extend their support to tackle the problem.
Regular Standups
For remote workers, it’s important to keep a tab on the tasks they’re working on, the workload they have, and the work they’re delivering. You can have daily check-ins or regular standups to keep track of the quantity and quality of work they’re doing.
Having regular standups for giving work updates will bolster accountability in employees towards their work duties and help maintain attendance while helping managers stay abreast of the employees’ work progress.
Tip: Employers can consider setting up the work hours for remote employees in a way so that they can collaborate effortlessly without the need to wait for other coworkers to log in.
Creating an Online Community
Remote work culture and the monotony of working alone can sometimes breed boredom in employees.
To mitigate this issue, employers must cultivate a system that enables employees to meet casually from time to time via any online space. Giving employees some downtime and promoting casual catch-up calls will give them refreshing breaks from work, boost the team’s spirit, and stimulate team cohesion, thus reducing the likelihood of absenteeism or lower attendance.
You can consider extending their support to remote workers to let them know you’re available if they face any issues or feel overwhelmed with work.
Empathizing with your employees occasionally, appreciating them for their work, and having one-on-one feedback sessions will help them know that you value them and pay attention to them individually, which will help them stay committed to their work duties and improve their overall attendance.
Checking Workload Distribution and Delegation of Tasks
For remote workers, ascertaining the workload and bandwidth of each employee becomes a bit tricky. However, you can conduct stand-ups, video conferencing, or even one-on-one catch-ups to check if they’re not overburdened and have a manageable workload.
Excessive workload and uneven work distribution can make some employees lag or feel overwhelmed, leading to job dissatisfaction and absenteeism patterns. Thus, consider delegating some tasks to other employees in case a few face a bandwidth crunch.
In addition to work delegation, regularly check in with remote employees to see if they need any help or support or have any roadblocks.
This way, they’ll feel supported, freely reach out to you for any concerns, and complete work promptly.
Choose a Tracking Tool That Integrates with Payroll Processing
For the system, where employees are paid based on the number of hours worked, tracking exact attendance data is imperative. Inaccurate attendance records can lead to wrong payroll processing. Thus, choosing an attendance management platform that seamlessly integrates with payroll processing is recommended to avoid the likelihood of erroneous time recording and payroll discrepancies.
Bottom Line
Maintaining optimum levels of employee attendance is imperative to meet organizational goals and ensure project success. However, with the remote work culture becoming the new norm in modern workplaces, keeping a tab on remote employees becomes difficult.
To deal with this issue, you can pivot to digital solutions such as time and attendance tracking software that can accurately record employees’ work hours and help manage remote employees effortlessly. On top of that, the reports generated by the tool can help employers ascertain any unpunctuality or absenteeism patterns in employees.
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