Biometric Terminals Hand Payroll Professionals Quick Paybacks
With biometric technology, payroll administrators, chief financial officers and controllers can eliminate the headaches of accurately tracking employee time and attendance.
March 1, 2009
Contrary to using badges, sign-ins or other ways of tracking employees, a biometric reader assures that no employee can punch in for another, eliminating time fraud and reducing payroll costs. Because every person’s biometric—hand, fingerprint, eye, face, etc.—is unique, a biometric time clock provides a quick, accurate and reliable way to record in and out punches for each employee. That’s why so many companies now employ biometrics.
For instance, over 20,000 Owens Illinois employees punch in and out each day using such devices. More than 30 individual Krispy Kreme donut shops track their stores’ employees likewise. The Decatur Hotel Group in New Orleans uses biometrics at its 12 hotels, famous for their French Quarter locations. A biometric reader ensures payroll accuracy simply by
requiring each employee to be present; no cards or other credentials are needed. Losses due to “buddy punching”—when one employee punches in or out for another—are eliminated. As a result, some companies report savings of up to 5 percent of total payroll cost. Using scheduling restrictions, unauthorized early-in punches and late-out punches are eliminated. Best of all, the hardware is typically less than 10 percent of the overall cost for a time and attendance system so that biometric readers can be affordably placed in multiple locations.
The benefits of such biometric-based systems are many:
• No badges to issue, replace when lost or stolen, or recover when an employee leaves or is terminated. Their hand is their badge.
• No more problems of employees buddy punching for their friends. After a biometric reader is installed, many companies are stunned to discover how much buddy punching was costing them.
• No more data entry errors when calculating payroll or recording attendance.
• Not using timecards or badges yields a “green” solution.
• A “Plug and Punch” feature enables some readers to be installed in less than 15 minutes.
SAVING TIME; SAVING MONEY
Health Management of Kansas Inc., with more than 1,000 people providing a full range of long-term care services, is using eight Schlage HandPunch biometric terminals in conjunction with the Legiant Timecard System to provide time and attendance reporting. The system saves the long-term care provider 30 hours each payroll period just in totaling timecards.
Additional time is saved by having the system integrate directly with their payroll application and by empowering employees to answer their own time and attendance questions via the HandPunch.
By verifying each employee’s identity by the unique size and shape of their hands, the long-term provider has added security and eliminated any opportunities for buddy-punching. Sue Stacy, the City of Tahlequah, Oklahoma’s Human Resources Director concurs. “Having the HandPunch terminals, working in tandem with our Novatime time and attendance software, makes this aspect of my job much easier and less time consuming,” Stacy attests. “The system calculates everything, including hours, sick leave and vacation. It provides better management and tracking of our employees. If a department head can’t find an employee, they simply call me and I let them know which clock the employee most recently used.”
O’Neal Steel of Birmingham, Alabama, a full-line metal service center using 46 biometric HandPunch terminals in tandem with Attendance Enterprise software for time and attendance in 35 locations across the United States, can monitor online who is at different locations throughout the day. In addition, employees can transfer from one cost center to another using the HandPunch to record the time it takes to complete a project or make repairs. When needed, payroll can be done from a home office on the weekend because all data is transferable and accessible via the Internet.
At Hays House Nursing Center in Nowata, Oklahoma, Nursing Center Administrator Charlie Larson is able to produce a daily overtime report that alerts him to problems right away rather than waiting for payroll processing to spot problems. He also gets a daily report that tells him who worked the day before, when they arrived and when they left.
Buddy punching was the main concern at The Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, a AAA four-diamond rated Hilton waterfront beach resort in Huntington Beach, California. “With more than 300 employees, buddy punching had become a challenge a couple of years ago,” reports Romy Robb, payroll administrator at the resort. “So, instead of using old magnetic stripe ID cards, we switched to the HandPunch reader.” As a result, the Hilton has better controlled payroll costs by eliminating all buddy punching. “Since employees can’t lose or forget their hands, these biometric readers eliminate the need for employees to carry a badge, thus purging the problem of lost or forgotten badges. This also saves us time and money,” explains Robb.
WHY HAND GEOMETRY?
Hand geometry readers continue to be the dominant biometric technology for access control and time and attendance applications. They are used in more biometric time and attendance systems than all fingerprint and facial systems combined.
There are reasons:
• When reviewing which biometric to use, the Hilton’s staff did not accept fingerprint scans because the process was too similar to fingerprinting. The HandPunch reader was accepted as much less intrusive.
• “Fingerprint does not function well in the dirt and dust so the HandPunch was the answer for us,” said Bill Burks, network specialist with O’Neal Steel. “We find hand geometry to be less intrusive and the best functioning biometric in a harsh environment.” The HandPunch readers operate in a warehouse setting where there is an abundance of dust, and often water leaks from the corrugated metal roofs. The units are installed in enclosures at the entrance to the buildings and at the break rooms. In order to clock in, employees plug in their employee number and then present their hand. “Most of the 46 original biometric hand readers are still in service 10 years later and need very little maintenance,” emphasizes Burks.
WHY MORE AND MORE USERS PREFER BIOMETRICS
For these companies, biometrics ensure that employees earn a day’s pay only when they are present to do a day’s work. However, a biometric reader is more than a simple time clock. The HandPunch transmits the employee’s in and out transactions to a company’s time/attendance/payroll software. Multiple units can be networked into a central time and attendance record-keeping system. Interface software can be tailored to meet multiple record-keeping needs, including programmable data management keys that collect specific data when employees’ hands are verified. Importantly, all major U.S. vendors of time and attendance software support HandPunch terminals.
Biometric readers are very accurate. Since the devices require only periodic cleaning, maintenance costs are kept low and the IT department doesn’t complain. “From a technician’s standpoint, the system works well,” reports Tahlequah’s IT Manager Ed Goss. “I don’t really have to do much with the time clocks. With a regular punch clock, time is not stored. This system does everything automatically. Its increased capability delivers more flexibility and lessens administrative duties. It saves time and, from an IT perspective, I would recommend others consider such a solution.”
SO ACCURATE, THEY’RE USED IN NUCLEAR PLANTS
Hand geometry technology is so accurate and dependable that it is also used for security access at nuclear plants, critical government agencies and at leading airports, such as San Francisco International and Israel’s Ben Gurion. Hand geometry readers positively identify users by the shape and size of their hands by analyzing more than 90 separate measurements of the hand’s length, width, thickness and surface area. This information is compared against a previously stored “template” in the reader’s memory. As a result, the readers combine the flexibility of a full function data collection terminal with the sophistication of the most accurate identification technology available.
For example, the New York City Law Department uses hand geometry readers for building access and to track employee time and attendance in 10 different buildings around the city. “The products are very solid,” says the director of administration at the Law Department, Malachy Higgins. “Initially, we got the machines to monitor time and attendance. Then we realized we could also use them to control building access. The hand readers are wonderful. They have made our facilities much more secure. Access cards can be passed around, but with this system, only an authorized person can enter a facility.”
A DAY’S WORK FOR A DAY’S PAY—GUARANTEED
With biometrics, it is so easy to ensure that employees earn a day’s pay only when they are present to do a day’s work. Whether a company has 50 employees or thousands, biometric-based time and attendance terminals bring more accurate payrolls and, therefore, reduce labor costs. They also cut operating costs and increase employee convenience by eliminating the need for badges. That’s why more and more organizations are using biometrics as a quick way to enhance the bottom line.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jon Mooney is general manager of Schlage Biometrics, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, 1520 Dell Ave., Campbell, CA 95008. Contact him at 408/341-1100; E-mail: jon_mooney@irco.com
For instance, over 20,000 Owens Illinois employees punch in and out each day using such devices. More than 30 individual Krispy Kreme donut shops track their stores’ employees likewise. The Decatur Hotel Group in New Orleans uses biometrics at its 12 hotels, famous for their French Quarter locations. A biometric reader ensures payroll accuracy simply by
requiring each employee to be present; no cards or other credentials are needed. Losses due to “buddy punching”—when one employee punches in or out for another—are eliminated. As a result, some companies report savings of up to 5 percent of total payroll cost. Using scheduling restrictions, unauthorized early-in punches and late-out punches are eliminated. Best of all, the hardware is typically less than 10 percent of the overall cost for a time and attendance system so that biometric readers can be affordably placed in multiple locations.
The benefits of such biometric-based systems are many:
• No badges to issue, replace when lost or stolen, or recover when an employee leaves or is terminated. Their hand is their badge.
• No more problems of employees buddy punching for their friends. After a biometric reader is installed, many companies are stunned to discover how much buddy punching was costing them.
• No more data entry errors when calculating payroll or recording attendance.
• Not using timecards or badges yields a “green” solution.
• A “Plug and Punch” feature enables some readers to be installed in less than 15 minutes.
SAVING TIME; SAVING MONEY
Health Management of Kansas Inc., with more than 1,000 people providing a full range of long-term care services, is using eight Schlage HandPunch biometric terminals in conjunction with the Legiant Timecard System to provide time and attendance reporting. The system saves the long-term care provider 30 hours each payroll period just in totaling timecards.
Additional time is saved by having the system integrate directly with their payroll application and by empowering employees to answer their own time and attendance questions via the HandPunch.
By verifying each employee’s identity by the unique size and shape of their hands, the long-term provider has added security and eliminated any opportunities for buddy-punching. Sue Stacy, the City of Tahlequah, Oklahoma’s Human Resources Director concurs. “Having the HandPunch terminals, working in tandem with our Novatime time and attendance software, makes this aspect of my job much easier and less time consuming,” Stacy attests. “The system calculates everything, including hours, sick leave and vacation. It provides better management and tracking of our employees. If a department head can’t find an employee, they simply call me and I let them know which clock the employee most recently used.”
O’Neal Steel of Birmingham, Alabama, a full-line metal service center using 46 biometric HandPunch terminals in tandem with Attendance Enterprise software for time and attendance in 35 locations across the United States, can monitor online who is at different locations throughout the day. In addition, employees can transfer from one cost center to another using the HandPunch to record the time it takes to complete a project or make repairs. When needed, payroll can be done from a home office on the weekend because all data is transferable and accessible via the Internet.
At Hays House Nursing Center in Nowata, Oklahoma, Nursing Center Administrator Charlie Larson is able to produce a daily overtime report that alerts him to problems right away rather than waiting for payroll processing to spot problems. He also gets a daily report that tells him who worked the day before, when they arrived and when they left.
Buddy punching was the main concern at The Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, a AAA four-diamond rated Hilton waterfront beach resort in Huntington Beach, California. “With more than 300 employees, buddy punching had become a challenge a couple of years ago,” reports Romy Robb, payroll administrator at the resort. “So, instead of using old magnetic stripe ID cards, we switched to the HandPunch reader.” As a result, the Hilton has better controlled payroll costs by eliminating all buddy punching. “Since employees can’t lose or forget their hands, these biometric readers eliminate the need for employees to carry a badge, thus purging the problem of lost or forgotten badges. This also saves us time and money,” explains Robb.
WHY HAND GEOMETRY?
Hand geometry readers continue to be the dominant biometric technology for access control and time and attendance applications. They are used in more biometric time and attendance systems than all fingerprint and facial systems combined.
There are reasons:
• When reviewing which biometric to use, the Hilton’s staff did not accept fingerprint scans because the process was too similar to fingerprinting. The HandPunch reader was accepted as much less intrusive.
• “Fingerprint does not function well in the dirt and dust so the HandPunch was the answer for us,” said Bill Burks, network specialist with O’Neal Steel. “We find hand geometry to be less intrusive and the best functioning biometric in a harsh environment.” The HandPunch readers operate in a warehouse setting where there is an abundance of dust, and often water leaks from the corrugated metal roofs. The units are installed in enclosures at the entrance to the buildings and at the break rooms. In order to clock in, employees plug in their employee number and then present their hand. “Most of the 46 original biometric hand readers are still in service 10 years later and need very little maintenance,” emphasizes Burks.
WHY MORE AND MORE USERS PREFER BIOMETRICS
For these companies, biometrics ensure that employees earn a day’s pay only when they are present to do a day’s work. However, a biometric reader is more than a simple time clock. The HandPunch transmits the employee’s in and out transactions to a company’s time/attendance/payroll software. Multiple units can be networked into a central time and attendance record-keeping system. Interface software can be tailored to meet multiple record-keeping needs, including programmable data management keys that collect specific data when employees’ hands are verified. Importantly, all major U.S. vendors of time and attendance software support HandPunch terminals.
Biometric readers are very accurate. Since the devices require only periodic cleaning, maintenance costs are kept low and the IT department doesn’t complain. “From a technician’s standpoint, the system works well,” reports Tahlequah’s IT Manager Ed Goss. “I don’t really have to do much with the time clocks. With a regular punch clock, time is not stored. This system does everything automatically. Its increased capability delivers more flexibility and lessens administrative duties. It saves time and, from an IT perspective, I would recommend others consider such a solution.”
SO ACCURATE, THEY’RE USED IN NUCLEAR PLANTS
Hand geometry technology is so accurate and dependable that it is also used for security access at nuclear plants, critical government agencies and at leading airports, such as San Francisco International and Israel’s Ben Gurion. Hand geometry readers positively identify users by the shape and size of their hands by analyzing more than 90 separate measurements of the hand’s length, width, thickness and surface area. This information is compared against a previously stored “template” in the reader’s memory. As a result, the readers combine the flexibility of a full function data collection terminal with the sophistication of the most accurate identification technology available.
For example, the New York City Law Department uses hand geometry readers for building access and to track employee time and attendance in 10 different buildings around the city. “The products are very solid,” says the director of administration at the Law Department, Malachy Higgins. “Initially, we got the machines to monitor time and attendance. Then we realized we could also use them to control building access. The hand readers are wonderful. They have made our facilities much more secure. Access cards can be passed around, but with this system, only an authorized person can enter a facility.”
A DAY’S WORK FOR A DAY’S PAY—GUARANTEED
With biometrics, it is so easy to ensure that employees earn a day’s pay only when they are present to do a day’s work. Whether a company has 50 employees or thousands, biometric-based time and attendance terminals bring more accurate payrolls and, therefore, reduce labor costs. They also cut operating costs and increase employee convenience by eliminating the need for badges. That’s why more and more organizations are using biometrics as a quick way to enhance the bottom line.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jon Mooney is general manager of Schlage Biometrics, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, 1520 Dell Ave., Campbell, CA 95008. Contact him at 408/341-1100; E-mail: jon_mooney@irco.com