So, how should you track employee hours effectively? Let\u2019s explore why a strong tracking system \u2014 ideally an easy-to-use online tool \u2014 benefits your business and the different ways you can implement it in 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Why Keep Track of Work Hours<\/span><\/h2>\nThere are many reasons for keeping track of employee hours – such as for your own sanity while you match your team, their requirements, and varying pay rates against your needs as a business. But there are also more serious reasons to track employee hours, such as the fines you might face if you break employment laws.<\/p>\n
1. More accurate payroll data<\/h3>\n
The more accurate and detailed your employee time-tracking, the more accurate your payroll data. Why is this important? If your payroll is littered with mistakes, inaccurate payment details, rates, clock-in and clock-out data, the more likely you are to pay your team the wrong amount, or worse still, not pay them at all.<\/p>\n
The result: a dissatisfied, frustrated team.<\/p>\n
2. Ensure adherence to employee laws<\/h3>\n
Employment laws differ from state to state, with some coming down harshly<\/a> on businesses that make mistakes on pay rates, overtime, and payment times. Keeping a close track of your employee hours helps towards ensuring that you have the right data to avoid breaking any rules.<\/p>\n3. A better understanding of employee time management<\/h3>\n
Tracking your employee hours can benefit you too. In understanding your team\u2019s work patterns, missed shifts, overtime uptake, lateness, or any number of other variables, you can analyze your staff productivity and drill down into what\u2019s working and what isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
4. A better understanding of which projects take the most time<\/h3>\n
Depending on the nature of your business, employee tracking could potentially highlight when a certain task or project is taking excessive time and human resources. These insights can help you distribute your teams more appropriately in the future.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Best Way to Keep Track of Work Hours<\/span><\/h2>\nWhen it comes to how to keep track of work hours, there are a variety of ways. Some of them are rudimentary, while others are more sophisticated. The main thing is to find what works for you and run with it.<\/p>\n
1. Pen and paper<\/h3>\n
If old-school pen-and-paper is your style, there\u2019s no harm in going down this route to track your employee hours. As long as you have all the information documented, including each employee\u2019s base rate and overtime rate, and you keep your documents in good shape, there\u2019s nothing wrong with keeping things simple.<\/p>\n
The downside to this approach is that it\u2019s extremely time-consuming. Every time a shift is changed, swapped or dropped, you may have to draw up a new schedule and communicate those changes to the relevant team members. You also have to bear in mind that this approach is also wide-open to human error.<\/p>\n
2. Time clocks<\/h3>\n
Another relatively old-fashioned approach to tracking employee hours is the time clock – introduced to industrial settings back in the late 1800s.<\/p>\n
Time clocks<\/a> typically rely on the employee punching in their clock-in and clock-out times, a seemingly simple solution to time-tracking. That being said, it\u2019s open to abuse, where employees can find ways to \u201cclock in\u201d without actually being there.<\/p>\nTime clocks are also quite specialized and therefore relatively expensive. Also, because they are specialized, they can malfunction easily. Finally, they are not ideal for a hybrid or remote workforce when clocking in and out in-person isn\u2019t practical.<\/p>\n
3. Biometric clock-ins<\/h3>\n
It might sound futuristic, but it\u2019s here. Biometric clock-ins work by tracking your employees’ hours using biological data such as facial features or fingerprints to verify their identity.<\/p>\n
Slightly more secure against \u201cbuddy punching\u201d that can be rife in traditional clock-ins, it\u2019s not a cheap option. Not only do you have to purchase the clock-in software and hardware, but also the fingerprint or facial scanners – an expensive purchase that will end up largely impacting your bottom line.<\/p>\n
4. GPS tracking<\/h3>\n
If you manage a team of employees who travel between a number of sites, GPS tracking<\/a> might be helpful. It lets you geofence around your sites so that when an employee arrives on-site, their mobile app sends them a notification to clock in. The same goes for when they leave the site: they\u2019re asked to clock out. GPS tracking also helps you to identify where your employees are at any time during their shift.<\/p>\nOne aspect of the GPS approach is that your employees all need to have access to a mobile device with GPS tracking available. In addition, most clock-in apps require an in-app purchase to access the software.<\/p>\n
5. Browser plugins<\/h3>\n
If your team is mainly sitting at computers, a browser plugin might be the best way to track your employee hours.<\/p>\n
These rely on the employee to start the timer when they begin work and stop it when they\u2019re finished. This approach is ideal for work that revolves around a number of projects or clients because it lets you track exactly how much time is spent on which of those items.<\/p>\n
If it suits your business model, you can also track all the URLs that your employees visit and break down their time spent on various work tools and websites.<\/p>\n
6. Desktop or mobile apps<\/h3>\n
For tracking both hourly, salaried, and contract employees, you can install both desktop or mobile apps to track their time. More often than not, and as is the case with ZoomShift,<\/a> such apps are usually part of a wider work scheduling platform.<\/p>\nHow the app tracks your employee hours will generally depend on the way in which your business operates. Say your employees have a set shift pattern. The app will nudge them to clock in and out at those set times. Or, if you\u2019re more interested in how your employees spend their time, they can log their time spent on different projects or clients.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Introducing ZoomShift: The Easy Way to Track Employee Hours<\/span><\/h2>\n
3. A better understanding of employee time management<\/h3>\n
Tracking your employee hours can benefit you too. In understanding your team\u2019s work patterns, missed shifts, overtime uptake, lateness, or any number of other variables, you can analyze your staff productivity and drill down into what\u2019s working and what isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
4. A better understanding of which projects take the most time<\/h3>\n
Depending on the nature of your business, employee tracking could potentially highlight when a certain task or project is taking excessive time and human resources. These insights can help you distribute your teams more appropriately in the future.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Best Way to Keep Track of Work Hours<\/span><\/h2>\nWhen it comes to how to keep track of work hours, there are a variety of ways. Some of them are rudimentary, while others are more sophisticated. The main thing is to find what works for you and run with it.<\/p>\n
1. Pen and paper<\/h3>\n
If old-school pen-and-paper is your style, there\u2019s no harm in going down this route to track your employee hours. As long as you have all the information documented, including each employee\u2019s base rate and overtime rate, and you keep your documents in good shape, there\u2019s nothing wrong with keeping things simple.<\/p>\n
The downside to this approach is that it\u2019s extremely time-consuming. Every time a shift is changed, swapped or dropped, you may have to draw up a new schedule and communicate those changes to the relevant team members. You also have to bear in mind that this approach is also wide-open to human error.<\/p>\n
2. Time clocks<\/h3>\n
Another relatively old-fashioned approach to tracking employee hours is the time clock – introduced to industrial settings back in the late 1800s.<\/p>\n
Time clocks<\/a> typically rely on the employee punching in their clock-in and clock-out times, a seemingly simple solution to time-tracking. That being said, it\u2019s open to abuse, where employees can find ways to \u201cclock in\u201d without actually being there.<\/p>\nTime clocks are also quite specialized and therefore relatively expensive. Also, because they are specialized, they can malfunction easily. Finally, they are not ideal for a hybrid or remote workforce when clocking in and out in-person isn\u2019t practical.<\/p>\n
3. Biometric clock-ins<\/h3>\n
It might sound futuristic, but it\u2019s here. Biometric clock-ins work by tracking your employees’ hours using biological data such as facial features or fingerprints to verify their identity.<\/p>\n
Slightly more secure against \u201cbuddy punching\u201d that can be rife in traditional clock-ins, it\u2019s not a cheap option. Not only do you have to purchase the clock-in software and hardware, but also the fingerprint or facial scanners – an expensive purchase that will end up largely impacting your bottom line.<\/p>\n
4. GPS tracking<\/h3>\n
If you manage a team of employees who travel between a number of sites, GPS tracking<\/a> might be helpful. It lets you geofence around your sites so that when an employee arrives on-site, their mobile app sends them a notification to clock in. The same goes for when they leave the site: they\u2019re asked to clock out. GPS tracking also helps you to identify where your employees are at any time during their shift.<\/p>\nOne aspect of the GPS approach is that your employees all need to have access to a mobile device with GPS tracking available. In addition, most clock-in apps require an in-app purchase to access the software.<\/p>\n
5. Browser plugins<\/h3>\n
If your team is mainly sitting at computers, a browser plugin might be the best way to track your employee hours.<\/p>\n
These rely on the employee to start the timer when they begin work and stop it when they\u2019re finished. This approach is ideal for work that revolves around a number of projects or clients because it lets you track exactly how much time is spent on which of those items.<\/p>\n
If it suits your business model, you can also track all the URLs that your employees visit and break down their time spent on various work tools and websites.<\/p>\n
6. Desktop or mobile apps<\/h3>\n
For tracking both hourly, salaried, and contract employees, you can install both desktop or mobile apps to track their time. More often than not, and as is the case with ZoomShift,<\/a> such apps are usually part of a wider work scheduling platform.<\/p>\nHow the app tracks your employee hours will generally depend on the way in which your business operates. Say your employees have a set shift pattern. The app will nudge them to clock in and out at those set times. Or, if you\u2019re more interested in how your employees spend their time, they can log their time spent on different projects or clients.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Introducing ZoomShift: The Easy Way to Track Employee Hours<\/span><\/h2>\n
Time clocks are also quite specialized and therefore relatively expensive. Also, because they are specialized, they can malfunction easily. Finally, they are not ideal for a hybrid or remote workforce when clocking in and out in-person isn\u2019t practical.<\/p>\n
3. Biometric clock-ins<\/h3>\n
It might sound futuristic, but it\u2019s here. Biometric clock-ins work by tracking your employees’ hours using biological data such as facial features or fingerprints to verify their identity.<\/p>\n
Slightly more secure against \u201cbuddy punching\u201d that can be rife in traditional clock-ins, it\u2019s not a cheap option. Not only do you have to purchase the clock-in software and hardware, but also the fingerprint or facial scanners – an expensive purchase that will end up largely impacting your bottom line.<\/p>\n
4. GPS tracking<\/h3>\n
If you manage a team of employees who travel between a number of sites, GPS tracking<\/a> might be helpful. It lets you geofence around your sites so that when an employee arrives on-site, their mobile app sends them a notification to clock in. The same goes for when they leave the site: they\u2019re asked to clock out. GPS tracking also helps you to identify where your employees are at any time during their shift.<\/p>\n One aspect of the GPS approach is that your employees all need to have access to a mobile device with GPS tracking available. In addition, most clock-in apps require an in-app purchase to access the software.<\/p>\n If your team is mainly sitting at computers, a browser plugin might be the best way to track your employee hours.<\/p>\n These rely on the employee to start the timer when they begin work and stop it when they\u2019re finished. This approach is ideal for work that revolves around a number of projects or clients because it lets you track exactly how much time is spent on which of those items.<\/p>\n If it suits your business model, you can also track all the URLs that your employees visit and break down their time spent on various work tools and websites.<\/p>\n For tracking both hourly, salaried, and contract employees, you can install both desktop or mobile apps to track their time. More often than not, and as is the case with ZoomShift,<\/a> such apps are usually part of a wider work scheduling platform.<\/p>\n How the app tracks your employee hours will generally depend on the way in which your business operates. Say your employees have a set shift pattern. The app will nudge them to clock in and out at those set times. Or, if you\u2019re more interested in how your employees spend their time, they can log their time spent on different projects or clients.<\/p>\n5. Browser plugins<\/h3>\n
6. Desktop or mobile apps<\/h3>\n
<\/span>Introducing ZoomShift: The Easy Way to Track Employee Hours<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.zoomshift.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/employee_time_track_hero_graphic-9e1c8d30ff75ce217362ee92be89162542e77ca53ff49cb4242e0d1ab57502e9.png\")
<\/p>\n