Time Shaving Abuses
Fords NJ (ContentDesk) April 7, 2004 -- Documentation is the best defense against the payroll abuse known as time shaving. So said Norman Heinle, President of Datamatics, Inc. in response to a front page story in The New York Times dated April 4, 2004 which detailed recent instances of time shaving at a number of leading companies.Time shaving occurs when managers reduce the number of hours worked by employees, sometimes with a few quick keystrokes on a computerized record. According to the Times article, time shaving has occurred over the last few years in several well known businesses, including Toys "R" Us, Pep Boys, Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, and Family Dollar. Such conduct is patently illegal, and the companies profiled in the story had policies in place forbidding the practice.What causes this increasingly common problem is the intense pressure on managers to control costs and increase productivity, especially in industries that are historically low margin.
Adding to this pressure are compensation systems that have become more bonus-based. These programs pit the personal interests of supervisors who are in the bonus pool against the income needs of the workers whom they manage. "The real issue here is management," Heinle explained. "Effective management is fostered by documentation that is both thorough and adequate." Disagreeing with suggestions in the Times article that a return to manual time clocks and paper records would eliminate time shaving, Heinle pointed instead to the many ways in which automated time and attendance systems can be used thwart payroll abuses on each side of the equation."Collusion by frontline supervisors to shave time can occur where the corporate culture encourages looking the other way as long as the financial results are good," he explained.
"But an automated system that generates audit trails showing what changes were made to time records and who made them raises the stakes for unethical managers."An automated solution also provides senior managements with a compliance mechanism for meeting labor law provisions, as well as a "business record" which can serve as a crucial support in actual or threatened litigation.
Heinle recommends periodic audits and independent reviews as additional checks to insure that individual managers are not making excessive or irregular edits to the hours worked recorded by employees.Of course, payroll fraud is a two way street. Padding hours is just as serious as paring them, says Heinle. Businesses have a very legitimate need to protect against inflated hours worked claims, violations of work rules, and unnecessary overtime. An automated time and attendance system can be extremely effective in achieving these goals, Heinle explained. Applying work rules programmatically to employee time that is captured electronically creates an objective record and eliminates the mistakes and inconsistencies encountered in manual record-keeping.Heinle also noted that many of the workers mentioned in the Times article did not have access to their electronic records.
Providing hours worked data, either on line or on payroll check stubs, is a step he also recommends as a prophylactic measure to curb time shaving.Datamatics Management Services, Inc. is a New Jersey-based software developer and management consulting company. Datamatics' TC-1 Labor Management Solution is a leading software package used in thousands of businesses, including QVC, Jet Blue, and Armed Forces Savings Bank. TC-1 automates employee scheduling, attendance record keeping, benefit accrual tracking, and cost allocation. TC-1's open architecture and scalability provide single source, enterprise and web based solutions to the many challenges of managing people and controlling costs.Datamatics also provides outsourced consulting and training options for a variety of business needs.
Our expert services are customized to clients specific needs, providing management, financial, IT, and personnel solutions, as well as the metrics for measuring the success of our efforts.To learn more about Datamatics, visit our web page at www.datamaticsinc.com.
Time Shaving Abuses
Fords NJ (ContentDesk) April 7, 2004 -- Documentation is the best defense against the payroll abuse known as time shaving. So said Norman Heinle, President of Datamatics, Inc. in response to a front page story in The New York Times dated April 4, 2004 which detailed recent instances of time shaving at a number of leading companies.Time shaving occurs when managers reduce the number of hours worked by employees, sometimes with a few quick keystrokes on a computerized record. According to the Times article, time shaving has occurred over the last few years in several well known businesses, including Toys "R" Us, Pep Boys, Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, and Family Dollar. Such conduct is patently illegal, and the companies profiled in the story had policies in place forbidding the practice.What causes this increasingly common problem is the intense pressure on managers to control costs and increase productivity, especially in industries that are historically low margin.
Adding to this pressure...
Time Shaving Abuses
Payroll > Time Shaving Abuses
New Prepaid Credit Card from USA Paycard Free For Most Employers
Madison, WI (ContentDesk) July 27, 2005 -- USA Paycard, Inc., a leading provider of payroll disbursement products, today announced its release of its "PayCard", a prepaid credit card that takes the place of the traditional payroll check.
The PayCard can be used in several ways, including regular pay, expense reimbursement (Per-Diem payments), commission payments, bonus or reward payments, paying employees who work off-site, termination payments, payroll adjustments and other one time payments.This payroll card allows employers to use direct deposit for employees who lack a traditional banking relationship.
This translates into lower payroll check processing costs ? an average of $48 per employee, per year according to a 1999 NACHA study.Each participating employee receives a prepaid payroll credit card serving as their paycheck, good at over 1 million ATMs and merchant locations nationwide and everywhere MasterCard is accepted.
Employees are no longer hassled...
Payroll > New Prepaid Credit Card from USA Paycard Free For Most Employers
Electronic Pay Stubs Add Wireless Notification Feature
National Payment Corporation today announced cell phone text messaging as an additional way to deliver pay stub information through their EZStub Electronic Pay Stub Service."EZStub now can deliver select electronic pay stub information to employee's cell phones or other wireless devices. Users have the option to select up to three categories from their pay stub, such as net pay and vacation and 401K accruals and have these items delivered as a text message," remarked Keely Brown, Sales Director of National Payment Corporation. "Employees who have been receiving their pay stubs electronically through the EZStub Service have another way to receive pay information when they are on the go.
Not everyone has access to a computer, but most people have a cell phone." Employers are seeking ways to cut payroll expenses. EZStub provides time and distribution savings, increases productivity and offers a secure and convenient method of distribution that makes it one of the most sought after...
Payroll > Electronic Pay Stubs Add Wireless Notification Feature
HR.BLR.com Selected by CheckPointHR to Provide Human Resource Compliance Service
Edison, NJ (ContentDesk) June 9, 2005 -- CheckPoint HR, LLC, a leading Administrative Service Organization (ASO) that provides middle market businesses with comprehensive, Web-enabled solutions designed to manage clients' human resource, payroll, benefits administration and benefits procurement functions, announces its selection of Business and Legal Reports, Inc. (BLR) of Old Saybrook, Connecticut to provide human resource and compliance services. CheckPoint HR's clients will have instant online access to the HR.BLR.com plain-English human resource and compliance database, which offers hundreds of compliance topics, along with thousands of pre-written and downloadable job descriptions, checklists and training meetings.
An on-line help desk will respond to various employment questions within a 24 hour period of time. Bob Brady, BLR's President and founder, commented,
"We're thrilled to be selected as their online provider of human resource and compliance services and...
Payroll > HR.BLR.com Selected by CheckPointHR to Provide Human Resource Compliance Service
Contract Workers: You Still May Be Eligible for Workers? Comp
If you work as a contract worker for a U.S. company and you get injured on the job, you may be eligible for workers' compensation in spite of your official worker status.
Since the mid-nineties, more and more American companies have redefined the status of large segments of their work force, primarily to save money on employee benefits, workers compensation insurance premiums, and the employer's share of social security and Medicare taxes. Thousands for workers suddenly found themselves without health insurance and under the obligation to pay not only their own payroll taxes but the portion formerly paid by their employers.
In response, the federal government issued stricter guidelines for defining employee status. Essentially, if you are required to show up for work on a specific schedule, if you are required to perform specific tasks in a way defined by your employer, and if you cannot turn down an assignment without risking your job, you probably should...
Payroll > Contract Workers: You Still May Be Eligible for Workers? Comp
Electronic Pay Stubs Add Wireless Notification Feature
National Payment Corporation today announced cell phone text messaging as an additional way to deliver pay stub information through their EZStub Electronic Pay Stub Service."EZStub now can deliver select electronic pay stub information to employee's cell phones or other wireless devices. Users have the option to select up to three categories from their pay stub, such as net pay and vacation and 401K accruals and have these items delivered as a text message," remarked Keely Brown, Sales Director of National Payment Corporation. "Employees who have been receiving their pay stubs electronically through the EZStub Service have another way to receive pay information when they are on the go.
Not everyone has access to a computer, but most people have a cell phone." Employers are seeking ways to cut payroll expenses. EZStub provides time and distribution savings, increases productivity and offers a secure and convenient method of distribution that makes it one of the most sought after...
Payroll > Electronic Pay Stubs Add Wireless Notification Feature
Protect Your Eyes With Biking Sunglasses
If you like riding your motorcycle or enjoy biking in general, you will really benefit from wearing biking sunglasses. Not only do the biking sunglasses protect your eyes from the sun and make it easier for you to see, but these sunglasses made for cycling or motorcycling also protect you from the wind and bits of dirt and dust that fly around.
Although biking sunglasses are mainly for fashion, they are essential for any biker that has sensitive eyes or wear contact lenses. Most...
Payroll > Protect Your Eyes With Biking Sunglasses