Managers hate to nag about an employee’s timecard with ongoing timesheet reminders. It can feel like a power struggle with a bunch of five-year-olds. You hire competent professionals. You don’t want to think of them as kids who refuse to pick up their toys.
Getting employees to turn in timecards is a problem that has plagued employers since the Industrial Revolution.
But many companies have solved the late timecard dilemma. You can too.
How to Eliminate Timesheet Reminders
- Find out why
- Solve the problems
- Hold managers accountable
- Create a discipline policy
- Train employees and managers
- Use an employee timekeeping system
Find out why employees aren’t turning in timesheets
Maybe your team members don’t understand the system or appreciate the importance of tracking work hours. (This is a head-scratcher because most employees want to get paid.)
If they don’t understand the system, it’s time for basic employee timecard training. First, create a process with deadlines. Second, add the policy to your onboarding documents. Then, periodically give everyone a refresher course. Last, have all employees sign a document acknowledging that they understand the process and agree to follow it.
Automate timesheet reminders (no more manual work)
Do they forget? Try email reminders or texts. Automated employee timekeeping systems have built-in timesheet reminders. Sync them to your payroll schedule so employees have fair warning to turn in their timesheet.
Can’t access the system? If you have paper timecards, this puts mobile employees at a disadvantage. Inexpensive web-based time tracking apps can help. That way, your remote employees can punch in with their phone.
Employee time reporting systems synced to time clocks create timecards automatically. You might have to remind your employees to punch in, but you can say goodbye to manual timesheet reminders for good.
Hold your managers accountable
The timecard burden shouldn’t fall on the HR director or payroll manager. Turning in timecards is a primary job function. As an essential job role, managers should hold employees accountable.
Certainly, your managers are in a better position to know what’s really going on. If your managers are competent, they can solve your late timecard problem.
However, if they can’t, you have more than late timecards to worry about.
Create a disciplinary policy
Progressive discipline policies start with a warning. For repeat infractions, the penalties increase in severity.
Here’s an example:
- First offense: verbal warning
- Second offense: written warning
- Third offense: suspension
- Fourth offense: termination
Some companies skip the suspension step because it brings its own problems.
Offer additional timecard training
Unified HR portals make it easy to create training programs. They provide electronic document management that simplifies training and onboarding. With electronic signature, employees can verify they understand and agree to your time and attendance policy.
Taking time to explain the big picture of timekeeping can also be part of the training. It’s no mystery why payroll needs timesheets. Whether your employees are hourly or salaried, you can’t cut checks without hours. Furthermore, you can’t bill clients.
A secondary reason (but no less important) is that you can’t plan projects. Billable time records show how employee hours break down per project or client. Finally, you can’t stay on the good side of the DOL without accurate timesheets.
Explain the importance of accurate time records. Make sure your teams know that the data is vital for the company to be able to:
Get an employee timekeeping system
Automated employee timekeeping combined with a straightforward process is the best solution.
Consider the advantages of automated employee time tracking:
- Digital timecards
- Managers can access anytime from a mobile device
- Employees can access anytime from a mobile device
- Import employee time data automatically to payroll
- Alerts and reminders (no need for manual timesheet reminders every pay period)
- Syncs to a physical or web-based time clock
Those are the must-haves for automated employee time tracking.
Here are the nice-to-haves:
- Breaks and meals tracking
- ‘Employee-aware’ prompts
- Schedule lockouts
- Syncing with employee scheduling
- Shift trade board
If you are planning to get a timekeeping app, you might as well solve other problems with these valuable features.
Mobile Time Tracking Apps Solve Manager Timesheet Delays
Mobile time tracking apps help managers approve timecards on time without having to send out timesheet reminders. When timecards live online, managers can approve them from their mobile phones or computers. A mobile timekeeping app can help companies provide hybrid working opportunities while keeping tabs on labor costs.
Online Timecards Are Never Late
Employee time tracking apps make sure employees turn in timecards because the app does it for them. As each staff member punches in with a physical or web-based clock, the software creates timecards and updates work hours in real time.
Solve the End-of-Pay-Period Timecard Scramble
- The system creates online timecards
- Supervisors can approve them from anywhere
- The payroll manager imports the timesheets into your payroll system without manual keying
Timecard Compliance FAQ
Timecards have many compliance implications. Here are answers to important legal questions:
Do I Have to Pay When an Employee Doesn’t Turn in a Timesheet?
Yes. You can’t withhold pay. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), it’s the employer’s responsibility to keep records of the employee’s hours.
What Should I Do if an Employee Doesn’t Turn in Their Timecard?
Estimate from past pay periods either with timesheets or project hours. Note that you will have to correct any discrepancies on their next paycheck. Document your efforts to get the information and create a paper trail to protect you in case of a Department of Labor (DOL) audit. HR portals simplify recordkeeping requirements, while