What’s your schedule and time management look like for your business? Creating schedules for multiple employee types and locations can be a challenge. Without the right system in place, schedules quickly get out of hand.
On top of that, new labor laws are requiring more reporting on the actual time worked by employees. It is a traditional practice to pay according to the schedule.
However, since employees have made official complaints that their time worked has been shaved, this created new legislation. Time stamping is an important game-changer in the new labor laws.
Why is Keeping a Schedule Important?
Schedules need to be transparent and archived. Employees should be encouraged to check their schedules, request time off and trade schedules with employees. By empowering employees to care for their own schedules, employees feel obligated to fulfill their obligations.
There are two categories of scheduling that have different realities: Time on and time off.
Time on scheduling includes:
- Specific job tasks or assignments
- Schedules trading
- Meetings
- Trade conferences
- Continuing education
- Office parties
These topics above encompass paid time for employees.
Time off topics include:
- Scheduled time off
- Vacation
- Military duty
- Jury duty
- Medical appointments
- Other miscellaneous appointments
Some of the items listed above are paid due to the benefits of the company. Business are not typically required to pay employees for these topics.
Schedules, Plans and Delivery on Time
The whole point of a schedule is to have a plan. Make sure that the correct number of employees with the skills necessary are available for a prospective assignment. It is a great idea to reward employees that stick to their schedule as much as possible.
Employee attendance is higher for companies that point out and reward the effort. When businesses fail to reward the behaviors they want, businesses get more of the behaviors they do not want.
Taking employees for granted that showing up is just part of their job misses the point. Because of “right to work” laws, the employee makes the choice every day to come to work as they are not obligated to. Reward employees for choosing to continue to work for your company.
In order to get your products to be delivered on time, you are going to need the the full cooperation of your employees.
Employee Empowerment over Schedules
Another big idea that gets tossed around is allowing employees to choose their own schedules and job assignments. For example, an employee might benefit greatly coming in an hour earlier and leaving an hour earlier than the rest of the team.
By being a benefit to employees with flexible scheduling, they choose to continue to work with your company.
Business owners are always trying to find work-life balance while ignoring the same ideals to their employees.
For example, an employee that guarantees to work every Friday and Saturday night are sacrificing social time; however, they may do this to have days off during the M-F work week to run errands. These employees are an invaluable resource.
What’s your Schedule support Software?
Scheduling is made easier with online mobile apps. Time Clock Wizard has an online scheduler as part of the software package. This makes is easy to schedule employees. Time Clock Wizard also gives employees more power over their schedule to request time off and to trade shifts.
Managers are further aided by having all of these requests consolidated on their dashboard. All that needs to be done is to approve or disapprove a request.
