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Changing perspective in the workplace

Access control at enterprise level has changed dramatically over the years. From back in the days when securing an enterprise involved a man and his dog at the gate and perhaps a password for employees to access their workstations, ongoing innovation in the biometrics arena and its increasing integration into businesses’ IT infrastructure has resulted in complete workplace access management.

A card-based system will only control the access of authorised pieces of plastic, but not who is in possession of the card, which can be shared, lost or stolen. Similarly, the use of PINs requires an individual to punch in a specific number to gain entry, but who actually entered the code cannot be determined as PINs can also be shared.

Workplace access management can integrate solutions for time and attendance, access control, job costing, alarm monitoring, HR information processing, payroll interfaces and other ERP, planning and reporting packages.

Making business sense

For most companies, payroll is the single largest expense, so this is where the greatest protection is required against threats of fraud, corruption and theft. Workplace access management systems have therefore become a crucial element of financial control in companies of all sizes.

Leading payroll and HR applications can be seamlessly integrated with biometric fingerprint readers. Employees scan their fingers when they arrive at the office and again at the end of the day or shift. At the end of the month the company payroll is automatically calculated based on the employees’ attendance as registered by the fingerprint reader.

A biometric system ensures that all employees are paid only for time they work and reduces fraud through buddy clocking. Additionally, automated payroll processing reduces HR and accounting personnel involvement and the time saved from manually processing the payroll can be used to add value to other areas of the business.

Accuracy is critical

The first step is to have accurate data on the actual time worked, and in more advanced solutions, to have accurate time clocked against each activity of an entire process. Looking at a time management solution, the following issues need to be addressed:

* Automating and streamlining any manual recording of time and labour processes to ensure information accuracy.

* Empowering managers by giving them access to real-time labour data and accurate insight into employee performance and productivity.

* Ensuring management decisions are aligned with strategic business goals and supported by timely management information.

In order to capitalise on an efficient and cost-effective time management solution, the following areas of functionality should be addressed:

* Be able to manage and alleviate all unnecessary absenteeism through accurate reporting based on graphical calendars and trend analysis.

* The system should be able to notify management on an immediate regular basis of the daily early and late entrants.

* All data should be collected electronically via biometric technology to eliminate fraudulent activities and minimise the risk of human error.

* Overtime needs to be managed as this is an area where costs can spiral out of control.

* The system should link to an access control module that can intelligently provide the relevant employees with access to the relevant areas at the prescribed times.

* Building a comprehensive set of history clockings will enable an organisation to identify trends and better manage good labour.

Proven biometric technology will provide consistently accurate clocking information that will reduce labour costs, increase productivity and drive business value throughout the organisation. Selecting inferior biometric technology will cause frustration and many disputes on payday.

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