Time theft is when employees are paid for time they didn't actually work. This can be a problem for productivity and impact profits, and is a common issue when companies do not accurately track working hours. With Tensor's Time and Attendance Systems you can monitor employee attendance in real time to prevent time theft and payroll fraud, as well as help to enhance productivity and save time and money on admin tasks. Tensor's Return on Investment Calculator can help you work out how much our systems can save you by cutting down on lost working time.
But what actually constitutes time theft, how does it happen — and how can you stop it?
Time theft doesn't always happen intentionally or maliciously, and it might be several smaller occasions rather than a sizeable period of time that is not worked. Here are some of the more common ways it can occur.
"It's just five minutes"
One of the most common ways time theft happens, whether intentional or not, is extended or additional breaks (lunch, smoking, coffee or otherwise), arriving late or leaving early. Even just five minutes might not seem much to one person, but if each person were to repeatedly have five extra minutes at lunchtime it could have a big impact on the whole company. Over a year, just one minimum wage employee could cost your company £275 in daily 'just five minutes'. For a company with 100 employees that could be £27,500 each year.
Monitoring break and working patterns (as well as arrival and leaving times) can help you to notice any regular patterns, and making sure you keep breaks consistent across the company can help to reinforce the importance of everyone keeping to the correct times.
Personal time in working hours
Another frequent reason for lost time is when employees perform personal tasks when they are supposed to be working. While activities that require them to be physically absent from work, such as medical appointments, may have a set procedure for making up time and be logged accordingly, things which occur on-site, such as checking social media accounts, browsing shopping sites, or talking to family or friends on the phone, can all add up. Not only can this result in lost time directly, but frequently checking personal messages is a distraction that could cause employees to lose focus — and therefore further reduce productivity.
Intentional time theft
Some older time and attendance systems and procedures which rely on manual time entry (such as spreadsheets or paper punching systems, as noted above) can provide the opportunity for intentional loss of time worked.
Employees may change their hours to show that they were working when they were not, which could include adding extra time onto the end of the day, inaccurately recording break times, or asking someone else to clock them in before they actually arrive (known as 'buddy punching') using a smartcard, a PIN, or a traditional paper punching system.
This sort of time theft can be avoided by using Tensor's Time and Attendance systems with biometric scanners, to ensure the employee clocking in is actually present.
Employees could also artificially extend their working time by working slowly or stretching work to draw out the working time. This could also be an excuse to add unnecessary or unauthorised overtime. Keeping an accurate log of tasks and time spent can help to reduce this type of time theft.
The risk of time theft with remote working
Time theft can be more pronounced among remote workers, partly because working on-site usually means monitoring procedures can be more easily implemented and additional staff can corroborate working hours.
Remote workers could make it look like they are working while engaging in personal tasks, or take longer breaks, resulting in reduced working hours despite being clocked in. Monitoring activity can help to reduce this.
Why does time theft occur?
Time theft doesn't emerge from a void. It is often a consequence of unclear rules and procedures, low morale or high stress (e.g. feeling undervalued, disengaged or worn out), perceived injustice (e.g. unequal pay or working conditions), or poor management or monitoring (e.g. lack of training on systems or processes).
The early signs of time theft can be spotted in behaviour patterns, such as inconsistent working hours and break times, a drop in productivity, missed deadlines or persistent use of personal devices during working hours.
How to prevent time theft
Time theft and lost working hours can be reduced or avoided with some steps in the workplace.
- Make sure employees know and understand the expectations for working hours and breaks (including a phone and social media policy)
- Monitor but don't micromanage, which can damage morale (and therefore lead to a drop in productivity), and check in with staff regularly.
- Help to encourage a trusting and positive atmosphere (which in turn can reduce stress and employees feeling undervalued)
- Ensure consequences for deliberate and/or repeated time theft through formal means
- Implement a time and attendance system that can record clocking times and work alongside other systems to provide a correct record of working hours.
Tensor's Time and Attendance system with T32XX clocking stations and WinTA.NET software accurately records on-site clocking times, integrates with HR, CCTV and Access Control systems, and can be used for any size of company from 20 to 100,000 employees. The Self Service Module provides a remote clock-in option for off-site workers and request and amend absences, via manager approval, as well as log hours on specific jobs.
Discuss your Time and Attendance monitoring needs with one of our experts today.
