Anticipating changes is part of running a business, and the past year has magnified how important that is. But what does it actually take for businesses to stay agile and prepare for the most unexpected things? Quick answer: Access to real-time data and being able to act on it. However, it’s not as simple for most organizations.
97% of respondents to a Deloitte survey said that they need additional information on some aspect of their workforce. However, only 11% of organizations were able to produce information on their workforce in real-time—and this challenge has been around even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given today’s landscape, organizations need to have the mechanisms in place that enable them to use data to stay ahead even amid unexpected circumstances. The question is, how and where do they start?
Why keeping everything in one place is essential
The key to having access to every vital data point is keeping them in one place or having the means to see all of them at a glance. It starts with having an integrated workforce management system.
“There are cases when organizations use separate platforms for clocking in, building employee schedules, and tracking time and attendance. Such practice can create silos, resulting in inaccuracies, and affect the integrity of workforce data,” Travis Kohlmeyer, vice president of sales at Workforce.com.
Organizations can run into different risks when implementing various platforms for processes that could otherwise be done on a single system. Cross-checking data from separate software can be time-consuming and prone to errors that can even become costly compliance violations. Complexities can also happen later on, especially when these systems update and become difficult to integrate with each other. Scalability is also a potential roadblock because it can be challenging to work with different vendors as you grow your business and your requirements change. “It’s just not sustainable and can be costly in the long run,” Kohlmeyer said.
Having a myriad of different tools and systems can also be difficult for frontline teams to use and counterproductive. “Employees should love to use the tools provided, or they generally won’t use them at all,” Tasmin Trezise, president of Workforce.com said. One of the biggest trends in workforce management is emphasizing ease of use, especially for frontline teams. “We will continue to see the rise of native SaaS cloud applications over clunky enterprise workforce management software with organizations preferring improved frontline manager/employee mobility options and ease of use. Simple and modern UI has long been missing from workforce management solutions. Organizations need to solve their problems and complete tasks in the easiest and quickest way possible,” Trezise explained.
Workforce data is vital to staying agile, but at the core of it is an integrated workforce management system. When systems are well integrated, it’s easier to gather data and build algorithms that can automate processes or provide insights into how your team or organization is doing.
In Workforce.com, for instance, managers can do auto-scheduling based on demand and other relevant information. The platform does this by integrating with the different systems an organization uses for appointments, reservations, events, sales volumes, to name a few. Algorithms are then created from information from these systems to anticipate staffing levels needed to meet demand and stay cost-efficient.
Workforce.com also equips managers and frontline teams to make data-driven decisions on the fly. Because the platform is well integrated, it shows data about the operations in real-time, allowing managers to make adjustments in operations as the day goes.
It’s also essential to check in on your team and get their feedback and sentiment on how things are going in the frontline. Workforce.com makes this easy for managers and leaders through functionalities like shift rating and feedback and shift questions. These features allow for timely feedback and help managers spot and address issues more quickly. In addition, data gathered from these functionalities can be easily compiled, which decision-makers can use to improve performance and employee engagement.
The secret to successful system integrations
The most advisable thing for organizations is to use a single platform for workforce management—which is time and attendance tracking and employee scheduling at its core. “These are the fundamental functions involved in workforce management, and workflow would be more seamless if they are all done on a single platform. This system can then be integrated to other systems that the organizations use such as payroll, appointment systems, POS, and internally built platforms,” Kohlmeyer advised.
Simplified workforce management and robust integrations are two of the most crucial factors that companies should be on the lookout for when thinking about implementing a WFM platform or any system for managing their teams. “The first part is having a powerful platform that simplifies workforce management, and the second part is making sure that it’s robust enough to be customized according to unique operational needs and variables. Of course, the second part will only be possible if the WFM platform can integrate to other systems a company uses,” Kohlmeyer said.
Workforce.com has an open API, which means that it can sync into most systems and software. “Its increased adoption is expected to bring huge advancements in workforce analytics and promote internal innovation, integration, and personalization. By leveraging the power of connectivity, enterprises can quickly eliminate the chaos of using multiple applications leading to rapid innovation and deeper insights into their workforces,” Trezise remarked.
Leveraging technology and interconnectivity can bring a lot of wins to any organization. It can bring about increased revenue, more significant labor cost savings, resilience in times of market volatility, and an engaged workforce.
xYou arrive for work, walk up to the door and look into the scanner. Infra-red light maps the unique patterns of your retina and, in the literal blink of an eye, your presence is verified, logged, and the door unlocks. This scenario used to be limited to high-security government installations and blockbuster spy movies, but the use of biometrics such as fingerprints and retinal scans to access everyday workplaces is fast becoming the norm.
In a 2019 study, more than a quarter of small North American businesses were using thumbprint scanners as a way of confirming identity, a number that leaps to over 40% for companies with more than 1,000 employees. Even retinal scanners, with their lingering science-fiction reputation, are being used by more than 10% of companies.
Biometrics is a rapidly evolving technology, and if you are considering investing in a biometric time clock system for your business, there are some pros and cons to weigh before making a decision.
The benefits of a biometric time clock
Biometrics offers considerable advantages over analog time clock systems such as punch cards or keycards, and it can improve accuracy, efficiency, and security across your locations.
Biometrics eliminates “buddy punching”
The biggest advantage from a company perspective is that biometric time clocks only work for the employee in question. This makes the common fraudulent practice of “buddy punching,” in which shift workers clock in and out for each other, all but impossible. Whether using fingerprints, palm prints, or retinal scans, biometrics requires the relevant person to be physically present. The only way to clock in for an absent colleague using this system would be to have their eyeballs or fingers, and there aren’t many work buddies willing to go that far to shave a few hours of their working day!
Biometrics improves on-site security
This also means an increase in security and safety. You can be sure that the person gaining access to your premises under a biometric system is who they say they are. It isn’t foolproof—employees can still hold the door open and allow others access—but the chances of anyone using a lost or stolen keycode or card to enter your workplace is gone.
Biometrics streamlines shift changes
Biometric time clocks can also increase efficiency in several areas. Employees don’t need to remember passcodes or keep track of a physical key card, which means your company doesn’t need to spend time and resources providing and managing those measures. The shift change process can also be sped up, as employees can clock in and out more quickly without typing in codes or fumbling in wallets for cards, reducing time-wasting bottlenecks.
Connecting biometric time clock systems to time and attendance software has advantages for employees, too. Being able to prove beyond doubt that they were on-site at specific times means that claims for unpaid overtime are much easier to prove. That, in turn, gives your managers the tools to ensure that payroll is correct, reducing the risk of wage and hour lawsuits.
The potential pitfalls of a biometric time clock
Biometrics is still an evolving technology, and it may still produce practical and legal hurdles for businesses to handle. If you introduce a biometric time clock now, you will need to consider a new range of accessibility issues as well as taking on additional data admin work with the possibility of further changes in the future.
Biometrics can limit access for disabled employees
Where employees with disabilities are concerned, companies should be especially alert to their practical access needs. If an eye-level retinal scanner is used to access the workplace, how will that impact wheelchair users? If access is via a palm or fingerprint reader, how will employees with limited or no visibility know where to place their hands? The Americans with Disabilities Act requires companies to make all reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities to access premises, even just for job interviews. While there have been exploratory studies raising concern on this issue, there has yet to be a test case involving biometrics. You don’t want your company to be the one setting that precedent.
Biometrics can require new data handling systems
Data privacy is already something companies need to be on top of, and the use of biometrics will only increase that burden. Although there is no federal law governing the use and storage of biometric data, several states have enacted their own, and it is only a matter of time before others follow suit. Texas and Washington have laws governing general biometric data use, while New York has labor legislation that covers it specifically for workplaces. Passed in 2008, the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) is the leading template for this kind of legislation, so it is useful to be familiar with what it requires from employers.
Under BIPA, companies must have a publicly available written policy that lays out how biometric data will be used, stored, and deleted. Employees must be sent written confirmation that their biometrics are being collected and how long they will be stored. Employees must also give written consent for this to happen and give separate consent for this data to be shared with third parties. Employee biometric data must be safeguarded and should not be used for profit-making.
Biometric data law violations are costly
As of 2018, more than 50 companies were facing lawsuits filed under BIPA with penalties that can quickly stack up—$1,000 per violation caused by negligence, such as inadequate data security, and $5,000 for every deliberate infraction, such as selling the data to third parties. There have been some high-profile results. Early in 2021, Walmart was hit with a $10 million settlement following a BIPA class-action suit involving 21,677 employees who used a palm scanner when handling cash register drawers without being asked for consent.
In another 2018 case, Smith Senior Living settled a lawsuit brought by an employee who was not made aware that her fingerprint data used to clock in and out of shifts was being stored in a database by Kronos Inc., the external supplier of the biometric systems. Any biometric time clock that shares data with an external platform—such as time and attendance software—means you should get explicit consent from employees to avoid legal exposure.
Biometric time clocks require companies to earn trust
Since biometric data is uniquely personal, it stands to reason that people will see the collection and use of that data in more personal terms. As an employer introducing biometric time clocks, the onus will be on you to build trust and put systems in place that reassure your staff you can be trusted with this information.
Legal challenges such as the one Walmart faced are likely the thin end of the wedge when it comes to concern from the general public over the use of biometrics. A 2018 survey found that 69% of respondents felt there were strong arguments against biometrics, with worries about the data itself being the most common.
A case was brought against Honeywell in 2015 for encouraging employees to sign up for a wellness program that included biometric screening in order to qualify for health insurance. The tests included cholesterol, waist size, and smoking history. Those who opted not to take part risked thousands of dollars in penalties and lost contributions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed the suit saying it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act by forcing employees with disabilities to reveal medical information for purposes not required by their work.
Although the Honeywell case was not related to biometric time clocks, it is inevitable that some employees will see any introduction of biometrics into the workplace as a prelude to punitive personal scrutiny. These are paranoid times, especially where matters of health and privacy are concerned, and some may even assume that their data will be misused regardless. It’s up to you to convince them this isn’t the case.
Biometric time clocks aren’t vital for every business—yet
Although the use of biometric time clocks is growing, with the pandemic driving takeup of contact-free retinal scanners in particular, that doesn’t mean it’s the right call for every business to adopt this technology. Biometric time clocks are especially useful for businesses that rely on hourly shift workers. Keeping track of lots of staff coming and going, without causing bottlenecks as people clock in and out, is a boon to companies operating on that model. Producing accurate data for payroll and efficient staff management is another bonus.
This is also a system that can be implemented gradually, used for access to specific locations that need additional layers of security or accountability. Or it may not be right for your business at all, right now. Biometrics in the workplace, whether for time clock purposes or other reasons, requires the introduction of new data security systems and the additional admin load of handling employee consent and the deletion of data when staff leave. Add in the still-evolving legislative landscape where biometric data is concerned, and adopting a “wait and see” approach is a valid strategy.
Whatever you choose, this is a technology that managers need to be familiar with as it appears in more everyday workplaces and will no doubt play a much larger role in the future. For those who do invest in biometric time clocks now, be assured that Workforce’s time and attendance software will integrate with your new system for a complete and secure solution.
At the core of workforce management is employee schedules and making sure that they are accurately implemented. Tracking time and attendance is crucial to this. It seems elementary, but it tends to become challenging and complicated when different factors are at play, such as business size, various locations, labor regulations, and unique operations and processes.
Here are common challenges that companies face when accurately tracking time and attendance and ways to solve them.
Outdated and inefficient WFM platforms
The biggest roadblock companies have to contend with is an outdated system not just for tracking employee clock ins, but for managing their workforce in general.
According to a Workforce.com study, the top time and attendance challenges that companies face with their current platforms include:
Manual errors (48%).
Lack of integration between HR and payroll (40%).
The inability to demonstrate compliance with wage and hour laws (19%).
WFM platforms should take out the complexities of these areas and make processes smoother and not the other way around. However, most companies experience the pain points of dealing with WFM platforms that complicate processes instead of simplifying them, which results in heavy admin work, manual errors, and compliance risks.
How to solve: Go for a robust platform that can provide efficiency with every area of workforce management, beginning with time and attendance tracking.
A WFM platform may claim to have the most advanced features, but it will not be of much help if it can’t integrate with your operations and existing systems. “Integration is key to automating time and attendance tracking, employee scheduling, labor compliance, and reporting. It’s only through integrations that you can truly customize the platform to suit your needs and goals. However, a WFM platform that can do that for you is hard to come by. That’s why it pays to do your due diligence before implementing a WFM platform in your organization,” explained Travis Kohlmeyer, vice president of sales at Workforce.com.
How Workforce.com can help:
Open API – Workforce.com can easily integrate with other software and systems, even those that are internally built within organizations. Through this, the platform can generate algorithms that help simplify and automate time and attendance tracking, labor forecasting, employee scheduling, labor compliance, payroll, and reporting.
Ensuring that employees are at the right place at the right time
It can be challenging for businesses operating in multiple sites to ensure that staff are where they should be, especially when you do it through inefficient systems. Time theft, gaps in operations, and inaccuracies in payroll are the typical results of not keeping track of employee locations and clock ins the right way.
How to solve: Use a time and attendance technology that can record GPS locations upon clock ins and set geofences. Such functionality makes record-keeping more efficient and closes the gap for inaccuracies and errors. “Efficient time and attendance tracking will never happen after the fact. Managers need to have a system that will provide them with complete oversight of all their locations and teams—from who’s clocking in and where, who’s running late, and who’s about to go overtime—and all of this should be in real-time,” Kohlmeyer explained.
How Workforce.com can help:
GPS Tracking – Workforce.com can record the GPS coordinates of employee clock ins. It is automatically recorded on the timesheet and can be easily verified by managers.
Geofencing – Workforce.com enables organizations to set geofences where employees can record clock ins. Being able to impose such limitations helps time and attendance tracking more efficiently and also avoids time theft. When an employee tries to clock in outside the geofence, the platform flags it and notifies the managers. It can also prompt employees to state why they are away from their scheduled location.
Shift questions – Shift questions can be posted for employees to answer before clocking in or out. It can be asked when specific criteria are met, for instance, when an employee clocks in a location where they’re not scheduled to work.
Workforce.com dashboard – Managers have a single view of upcoming shifts, employees who are clocked in, late, or have yet to be in their assigned locations and shifts.
Key alerts – Managers are notified about their teams’ time and attendance and any last-minute absences they need to fill. Just the same, Workforce.com also informs employees when schedules are coming up and reminds them to clock in for their shift.
Tracking attendance of staff who work in multiple locations in a day
Some companies have employees assigned to work in different locations in a single day, which can be troublesome for managers to track and easily result in payroll or compliance issues.
“We’ve come across companies that are having problems with keeping track of their staff who work in multiple locations in a day. They needed a system that can automatically note such clock ins without having any issues once the timesheets are exported to their payroll system,” Kohlmeyer shared.
How to solve: Provide employees a fast and straightforward way to record their clock ins, even when they move from one location to another.
How Workforce.com can help:
GPS clock ins – Employees who need to work in two or more different locations in a day can record their start and end times using their own mobile device via Workforce.com’s mobile app via GPS clock in functionality. All they need to do is go on the app before starting and ending work in one location and repeat the process in the following location they’re scheduled to work. Workforce.com automatically logs that information on the timesheet, which can be easily verifiable and exported to payroll.
Ensuring employees take their breaks
Failure to assign and track employee break times is a common risk for non-compliance, especially for businesses operating in locations that have strict rules around breaks.
How to solve: Have a system in place that helps managers schedule the appropriate break times for each employee according to their employee classification and laws that apply in the area of business. Likewise, it’s crucial to have a system in place that prompts employees to take their breaks.
How Workforce.com can help:
Easy access to data and analytics – Workforce.com provides easy access to all of your data and information. That being said, you can easily see time and attendance records and identify whether or not employees used or recorded their break hours. This can be helpful in case authorities check on your compliance when it comes to employee breaks. When you have access to your information, it’s easy to find lapses or identify whether there’s non-compliance or not.
Alerts and notifications for breaks – The Workforce.com platform sends alerts to employees and managers about breaks—prompting staff to take them and notifying managers in case team members didn’t do so.
Scheduling alerts – Workforce.com flags potential mistakes with assigning break durations to employees during scheduling. This ensures that managers assign the correct break times to the right employee in accordance with labor laws.
The ideal platform for tracking time and attendance
Organizations experience difficulties with time and attendance tracking because they don’t use the right system in the first place. The ideal system is not a one-size-fits-all software but a WFM platform that can quickly adapt to how your organization works and changes.
Workforce.com is a robust WFM platform that simplifies the core elements of workforce management, ensuring that the factors unique to how you operate are taken into account, resulting in more efficient schedules, lower labor spend, increased profitability, and compliance to labor rules.
Being flexible with shift work is good for business. Even before the pandemic created a nationwide staffing shortage, employees were making it clear that a better work/life balance was becoming a top priority.
A 2019 survey (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-research-shows-that-flexible-working-is-now-a-top-consideration-in-the-war-for-talent-300818790.html) by IWG found that 80% of workers would choose a job with a flexible schedule over one that did not, and more than 30% considered flexibility more important than extra vacation days or a prestigious job title. In addition, a different survey (https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/survey-flexible-work-job-choices/) in the same year found 80% of workers would be more loyal to their employer if they had more flexibility over when they worked, with over half trying to negotiate adding this perk with their current manager.
There are two popular ways to inject flexibility into your shift scheduling: shift bids and shift swaps. While they appear similar, they differ in subtle but important ways, and the right one for you will depend on the specifics of your business.
Shift bids and shift swaps – what’s the difference?
Put simply, shift bids are when the manager invites workers to put themselves forward for open shifts. Shift swaps allow workers to arrange to take each other’s shifts directly.
Shift bid example:A retail worker informs the manager that they can’t come in as scheduled on Friday because of a medical appointment. The manager chooses which staff members are best suited to fill that shift and lets them know an extra shift is up for grabs. The manager then chooses who will take the shift from those that express an interest.
Shift swap example: A restaurant worker has a childcare emergency and can’t come in for their scheduled afternoon shift, so they ask their colleague to swap shifts. The colleague agrees, and they present the solution to their manager, who approves it.
Each approach has the desired result: the empty shift is filled. Both are also easily implemented with the right scheduling software, but which method works best for your business depends on several factors.
Shift bids keep the manager in control
There are benefits and limitations to shift bids that you should be aware of before considering using them.
Benefits of shift bids
The manager gets a choice of different staff members to fill a shift and can pick the best suited. This helps maintain a well-rounded shift with employees who possess all the required skills and experience and work well together.
Managers using shift bids may also keep an eye on who is close to working overtime and favor those with fewer hours on the clock, thus controlling costs and spreading available work more evenly.
A shift bids system can expand to fill all shifts, not just absences. Workers can rank all available shifts according to their preference, and the manager can use that data to put together a schedule that accommodates as many people as possible.
Staff using shift bids have more control over when they work by only putting themselves forward for shifts that fit around their life.
Limitations of shift bids
The shift bids approach won’t suit every worker, and some can find the need to bid for their shifts to be stressful.
Shift bids can be prone to favoritism and need to be carefully monitored to ensure bids are being handled fairly. This is an area where scheduling software can help, as you can easily check your shift data over time and identify patterns where certain staff members are scheduled – or not – more than others.
Shift swaps can be quick and painless
Shift swaps are simpler to manage than shift bids, but have other pros and cons worth considering.
Benefits of shift swaps
By having staff arrange coverage between themselves, shift swaps save the manager’s time.
With reliable staff, shift swaps can solve many scheduling issues before they even become a problem.
Shift swaps are better suited to solving urgent staffing needs, such as last-minute absences, as they don’t require employees to go through the bidding process.
Limitations of shift swaps
The manager has less control over who takes a shift, so unbalanced staff rosters are a risk.
Unregulated shift swaps can be prone to over-use by employees and require a robust company policy to clarify the conditions under which shift swaps will be approved.
Choosing the right approach for your company
The scheduling method best suited to your company will depends on several factors.
Company culture
In environments where top-down management is the norm, shift bids are likely to be a better fit. But in businesses where employees are used to having greater autonomy, they’ll likely prefer to arrange shift swaps themselves.
Company size
The larger the company, the more effective shift bidding becomes, as having more staff available to bid on shifts means more choice for managers. And vice versa; the fewer staff members there are, the fewer variables the manager has to keep track of when shifts are swapped.
Worker and managerial experience
A shift swap system works well for companies or locations with reliable long-term staff. For that reason, shift swaps can also benefit new managers or managers who are unfamiliar with all the employees, as it means there is less need to match workers to shifts personally.
All these factors are prone to change over time, but resist the temptation to mix and match shift bids and shift swaps at the same time. Instead, it is better to pick one flexible scheduling system and stick with it for clarity for staff and simplicity for managers.
Flexible shifts help attract and retain staff, and whichever way you approach them will require well-thought-out processes. However, if the practical complexities still seem intimidating, remember that scheduling solutions such as Workforce.com can help automate and track shift bids and shift swaps, freeing up valuable time and headspace for managers.
Labor laws are a potentially lethal minefield for companies, particularly in today’s turbulent labor market, as the cost of labor law compliance failures can be enormous.
Labor law fines tend to stack per infraction so with large employee numbers the financial risk can grow exponentially, as with the recent high profile example of New York City suing Chipotle (https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/29/business/chipotle-nyc-lawsuit-labor-law/index.html) for $151 million over 600,000 labor law violations accumulated within the city. In Tennessee, a home health care provider misclassified fifty workers as independent contractors rather than employees and was hit with a $358k penalty (https://www.workforce.com/news/worker-misclassification)by the Department of Labor to make up back wages and overtime.
Ignorance of the law is no defense, so even in situations where labor law compliance is complicated by different federal, state, and city rulings, it’s up to companies to stay on top of what is required. In situations where federal and local laws differ (i.e., the state minimum wage is higher than the federal), companies are expected to adhere to whichever is most stringent (i.e., they would have to pay the higher state minimum wage, not the federal).
It’s all too easy to make labor law compliance mistakes, but awareness of your responsibilities and impeccable record keeping will help to protect your company. Here are the key areas to keep in mind.
Minimum wage
Minimum wage laws are getting a lot of attention at the moment, with President Biden’s executive order raising the salary for federal workers to at least $15 per hour being seen by many as a prelude to a nationwide rise in minimum wage levels. Compliance with these laws can seem cut and dried, but there are aspects unique to some industries that you should be aware of if they affect you.
For example, industries where workers earn tips have a unique minimum wage law to follow, called Minimum Tipped Wage. “Minimum tipped wage makes it quite a bit more complicated,” says Workforce’s chief strategy officer Josh Cameron. “In hospitality or anything where you earn tips, you can pay the staff a minimum wage much lower than the normal one. So it would be $7.50 an hour if they’re not tipped, but it’s $2.50 if it’s tipped. As long as they get enough tips to get them over that—it’s called the tip credit—then they can receive the lower $2.50 per hour from their employer.”
There are reasons to keep on top of minimum wage laws beyond the threat of fines. For example, 29 states currently require a minimum wage higher than the federal standard, and you are obliged to pay the higher sum. Underpaid workers are unlikely to show any loyalty to a company, and underpayment can cause PR problems as well. “An underpayment scandal can bring companies to their knees,” says Andrew Stirling, head of product compliance at Workforce.com. “Customers can decide to take their business elsewhere. People are less likely to visit a restaurant or shop that has been reported for underpaying their people.”
Paid and unpaid breaks
One of the areas of labor law compliance with the least clarity is breaks for workers, making it especially important for companies to err on the side of caution. The legal requirements can be found on the Department of Labor website, but there are significant areas of ambiguity to watch for:
Federal law does not require companies to offer lunch or coffee breaks.
Where short breaks are allowed by a company, short breaks (i.e., toilet use) of up to 20 minutes should be paid.
Breaks of 30 minutes or longer (i.e., lunch) are considered outside of workable hours and do not need to be paid.
Waiting time or on-call time does not count as a break and should be paid.
“There’s this gray area,” says Josh Cameron. “Say you take a break for 21 minutes, is that paid or unpaid? Is it okay to make that unpaid? If you’re a lawyer looking at this, it’s really an opportunity because you can say, ‘This employee always had a 23-minute break, always had an 18-minute break, and they never got paid for it. Maybe they should have been.’ That’s something that employers should really be aware of and keep an eye on.”
This is an area where accurate and exhaustive employee data can really help, and if your company still relies on timecards and manual spreadsheets or pen and paper logs to track breaks, you could be leaving yourself open to big problems in the future.
Paid and unpaid leave
Thirteen states, plus Washington DC, currently require private companies to offer paid sick leave. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act added an additional responsibility for companies with less than 500 employees to allow workers to take paid time off if infected with COVID-19, to isolate following contact with an infected person, or to care for a family member. The same act also introduced a tax credit to offset the loss for affected companies.
California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington have all passed laws that also require paid family leave, and President Biden’s administration has set its sights on a federally mandated period of 12-weeks paid leave that would allow, for example, parents to take time off to care for newborn babies or other family needs.
For now, the only federal law involving medical and family leave is the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires employers with more than 50 staff to offer 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for:
The birth of a child, adoption, or fostering of a child
A seriously ill spouse, child, or parent
A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job
Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty;” or Military Caregiver Leave—26 weeks in a 12-month period to care for an injured or seriously ill spouse, son or daughter, parent, or other next of kin who is a covered service member
This is an area of labor law compliance that is only going to become more prominent in the coming years, so shrewd managers should ensure they are on top of current requirements, which are largely dependent on where you operate and how many staff you have, and be prepared for change.
Healthcare
Another area of labor law that has been fraught with political debate, the Affordable Care Act requires that if an employee works more than 30 hours a week over any single year look-back period, then the employer must provide health insurance. While the ACA is a federal law, the portion of the medical insurance that the employer has to pay is determined by the state. In New York, for example, the employer must pay 80%.
The 30 hours a week cut-off requires particularly careful management where shift workers are concerned, as their hours may fluctuate over time. “This whole area is a big pain point,” explains Josh Cameron. “It’s a very difficult conversation to have with an employee that has become eligible for healthcare, then loses that eligibility the next year. Taking it away from someone feels very harsh to the employee.”
Keeping track of employee hours and keeping accurate records is yet again a vital part of compliance for companies here. Qualifying for healthcare is a strong motivator for retaining staff, but for those companies that are concerned about shouldering the additional costs, Workforce.com can be calibrated to warn managers when employees reach the 30 hours threshold and can even prevent managers from publishing schedules that extend past 30 hours.
Predictive scheduling
A recent addition to the labor law conversation, predictive scheduling laws – also sometimes known as “fair workweek” – place restrictions on how shifts are assigned and require companies to give advance notice of new schedules.
Two states – Vermont and Oregon – and eight municipalities – San Francisco, Berkeley, Emeryville, San Jose, Seattle, New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia – have passed such laws, and more states and cities are considering legislation in this area. The specifics of the laws vary from region to region, but the core principles are:
A minimum notice period for upcoming schedules (usually two weeks) with compensation for workers who are not given enough notice of their schedule or changes to that schedule
A ban on “clopening,” meaning that a staff member working the closing shift cannot be scheduled to work the opening shift the next day
Mandatory rest periods that vary from between 9 to 11 hours between shifts
Failing to maintain compliance with these laws is expensive. The Chipotle example mentioned earlier, in which NYC sued the fast-food chain for $151 million, was caused by hundreds of thousands of predictive scheduling infractions across its many locations in the city.
Even if your business is not based in a state or city with predictive scheduling laws, it is still worth adopting the principles behind them. Partly because these laws may yet impact your business, but also because they have had a notable improvement on staff retention and job satisfaction.
Discrimination laws
There are thankfully few employers looking to openly discriminate in their hiring processes these days, but you should still be aware of which groups the law applies to when hiring and firing, as well as setting the terms of employment and how much people are paid.
The Equal Opportunity in Employment Act covers all the areas of discrimination that are forbidden. This concise PDF from the Department of Labor spells out everything employers should know.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to companies with 15 or more employees and makes it illegal to discriminate in employment on the basis of a person’s disability. This also requires companies to make “reasonable accommodation” to allow a disabled person to work there, including making modifications to the working environment to not only allow disabled people to work there but also participate in the application process.
Ever since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there have been several laws and amendments which make it illegal to discriminate against anyone because of their Ethnicity, Gender, Race, or Religion. Nationality is also a protected category, so, for example, it would be illegal not to hire someone because they were from Poland, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act offers protection to employees and applicants on the basis of their age. This law applies to anyone aged 40 or older, a far younger cut-off than many companies realize.
Labor law compliance is easier with good record keeping
If this all seems like a lot to keep track of, you’re not alone. The USA has relatively light-touch regulations for businesses compared to Europe, for example, but that doesn’t mean the task of staying compliant with labor laws can’t feel overwhelming—especially if you’re new to management and dealing with all of this legislation for the first time.
Regardless of which law is involved, one of the recurring causes of labor law breaches is poor record keeping. There’s one surefire way to ensure that your labor law compliance is rock solid, and that’s to keep excellent data. While it’s possible to maintain your records the old-fashioned way, with paper and pen or spreadsheets, the potential for human error is high.
When the cost of non-compliance can be so steep, using dedicated staff management software like Workforce.com to track staff hours and automatically flag labor law compliance issues offers much-needed peace of mind.
To make work easier — this is the main reason why companies look for workforce management systems, and they typically gravitate towards providers that claim to be automated, simple, and cloud-based.
With different WFM platforms available in the market, it’s easy for organizations to get lost in all the sales and marketing talk, demo calls, and claims of why a particular product is better than the others. But if there’s one thing that organizations should focus on, that would be how the solutions they’re looking at will fare in terms of integrating with the current systems and software they use.
“A workforce management system can only be truly efficient if it can integrate with systems or platforms in place in an organization. It is the only way to ensure accurate forecasts, break silos, and make workflows more efficient, especially for companies operating in different locations,” Travis Kohlmeyer, vice president of sales at Workforce.com said.
Beyond common software integrations
Software as a service, like WFM platforms, is expected to integrate with other relevant software. In WFM’s case, this includes software for payroll, PoS, and HR systems. While these integrations are helpful, there are cases when an organization’s needs go beyond that.
“Big companies typically use different software and systems, and some of these are built internally. A WFM platform can only be of value when it can integrate to custom systems and make sure that you have the right staff on for appointments, reservations, events, and sale volumes and much more,” Kohlmeyer explained.
The power of a fully integrated WFM system
Cost savings and higher productivity happen when WFM systems are fully integrated. A truly robust WFM system can do that despite the unique needs and processes of a business.
When a WFM seamlessly syncs with other systems and software, it’s able to deliver the following:
Accurate labor forecasts – An integrated WFM platform can predict labor demand which can aid managers to create more efficient and accurate schedules. When it’s synced with systems that involve appointments, reservations, room occupancies, and even historical sales information, it’s able to create an algorithm that will inform managers how many employees they need at a given time.
Labor compliance – When a WFM platform is fully integrated, crucial information and data are accounted for, especially on the compliance side of things. For example, it ensures that labor rules apply to scheduling and payroll. It also keeps track of training and certifications that are required to perform certain tasks.
Timely and actionable reports – Decision-makers and managers can easily spot trends and nip problems in the bud when data and reports are readily available to them. Integrated WFM platforms can generate reports gathered from various data points and do so in a few clicks. This is especially helpful for providing relevant and valuable reports for different roles in the company.
“A fully integrated WFM offers a high level of customizability. Businesses have varying needs, and a WFM platform that can seamlessly sync with other systems can deliver results.” Kohlmeyer explained.
Tips when searching for a WFM platform
Finding the WFM platform for your business requires due diligence. As you look through different options, here are factors that you need to consider:
Integrations – While it’s essential to look at the features of a product, it’s equally crucial to see if a WFM can sync with the systems you currently have. Remember that ‘powerful’ features will be for nothing if it doesn’t integrate well with the current systems.“It’s also crucial to figure out how the integrations will be done. Organizations usually seek to make their work easier, so it’s best to go for a solution provider that will take care of the integrations for you.” Kohlmeyer said.
Nature of business operations – A WFM platform may claim to be the best, but does it have any experience working with an organization similar to yours? It pays to ask if they have worked with companies in the same industry or at least with an organization that has a similar operational model as what you have. If not, determine if they have the capability to address your specific needs or business model.
Reviews – Client feedback is another way to gauge whether a WFM vendor is worth your time and money. Checking reviews can give you an idea of the possible pros and cons of working with certain providers.
Required functionality – Discuss with potential vendors your required functionality. See if they can offer it out of the box or if they need to build it for you. If they need to build it for you, ask about the timeline, requirements needed from your side, and possible roadblocks to implementation.
“Aside from meeting your requirements, it is also vital to discern whether a WFM provider is willing to really help you out and not just close a deal. Normally, you’ll see it in how they steer the conversation when certain functionalities are not available in their product yet.” Kohlmeyer added.
Workforce.com makes integration easy for companies worldwide
Workforce.com has an open API, which means that it can easily integrate with other software and systems, even internally-developed platforms. It is through this technology that algorithms out of different variables are built, which aids our customers to get accurate demand and forecasts, generate custom reports, optimize operations quickly, and automate processes such as employee scheduling.
Companies need something to simplify workforce management with, and it takes a genuinely robust system to do that. “Taking the complexities out of scheduling, time and attendance, compliance, and reporting has a lot to do with integrations,” Kohlmeyer explained. “Workforce.com is a highly customizable and easy-to-integrate system that helps companies around the world do exactly that.”
Cristian Grossman may be a newly minted author with the recent release of his first book, “The Rise of the Frontline Worker: How to Turn Your Frontline Workforce Into Your Biggest Competitive Advantage.”
But the co-founder and CEO ofBeekeeper, a mobile collaboration platform, also has toiled as a frontline worker. A former waiter, factory worker and chemical engineer, Grossmann meshes his time in the trenches with his entrepreneurial savvy to argue that technology is imperative to making frontline workers more effective employees.
From health care to manufacturing to retail employees, Grossmann deftly addresses the importance of frontline workers. Since the pandemic began, millions of North America’s frontline workers found themselves in the spotlight for the first time, with appreciation initiatives in almost every city. Despite the recognition, Grossmann argues that the reality is many frontline workers don’t have the support and tools they need to do their jobs.
Workforce caught up with Grossmann for an in-depth Q&A in the days leading up to his company’s “Frontline Future” virtual conference on May 6.
Workforce: Define a frontline worker.
Cristian Grossmann: Frontline workers are employees who do not sit at desks or work at computers. Their jobs are most often mobile, like sales associates, first responders, construction workers and restaurant servers. As their name implies, they are on the frontlines of their company, either in a customer-facing role or a hands-on role, like a production worker in a manufacturing facility.
What many people don’t realize is that frontline workers actually make up the vast majority of the world’s workforce. In the United States alone there are approximately50 million frontline workers. Worldwide there are about2.7 billion frontline workers, which is 80 percent of the world’s workforce.
Workforce: So, the book title — “The Rise of the Frontline Worker” — are you saying these employees have been overlooked and now employers are coming to understand how valuable they are?
Cristian Grossmann, author of “The Rise of the Frontline Worker”
Grossmann: Early into the pandemic, frontline workers were thrust into the public spotlight. Beneath their masks, they put on a brave face and continued providing the services that society needs to sustain itself and its people. Now, frontline workers are appropriately recognized as essential workers, because they are vital to our economy. In fact, according to the Department of Homeland Security, essential workers are now officially recognized as part of our critical infrastructure operations.
When office employees transitioned to remote work, many frontline teams continued to work onsite throughout the duration of the pandemic. Without these essential workers, many companies and industries would not have been able to operate. Hospitals are filled with frontline workers, as are grocery stores, manufacturing facilities and delivery services. These are the workers that society relies on most and the pandemic highlighted just how important they are.
When it comes to workplace technology, frontline workers have been underserved for a long time. Companies typically spend most of their IT budget on desk workers while frontline employees often rely on outdated, inefficient communication channels. Paycheck stuffers, break room bulletin boards and word of mouth are just a few examples of outdated communication channels many companies still use to reach their frontline employees.
Now, with the rise of the frontline worker in the public spotlight and advances in mobile collaboration technology, business leaders are stepping up and investing more into productivity and collaboration technology that will reach and connect their frontline teams.
Workforce: It seems like an overarching theme is, by enhancing frontline workers’ access to technology, employers can gain a competitive advantage. Is that accurate?
Grossmann: I believe that digitally empowering frontline employees will be one of the single most important competitive advantages for businesses in the new post-pandemic normal. A high-performing workforce can only be cultivated when every worker is included and digitally enabled. If a company is only connecting with a small portion of their workforce and not including their frontline teams, they’re missing out on a huge opportunity to improve the safety, agility and overall productivity of their business.
Access to cutting-edge workplace technology creates a frontline workforce that is more productive, collaborative and ultimately happier. A connected workforce experiences fewer on-the-job accidents, sees higher retention rates, and is more innovative. All of these factors ultimately improve the customer experience and the bottom line of the business.
Let’s consider the hotel industry. Almost every guest interaction customers have occurs with frontline workers — they are the de facto brand ambassadors of the business. The happier these employees are and the more empowered they are to do their jobs with the right collaboration tools and access to information, the better guest experience they will create.
When companies digitize their frontline workers they are boosting productivity, safety and agility of their workforce, which fuels their competitive advantage.
Workforce: How can digitalization bring out the best in frontline workers?
Grossmann: When companies invest in their employees, it helps build a more engaged, committed workforce and lays the groundwork for a more collaborative, productive company culture.
This cultural transformation brought about through digitalization happens for a few reasons. First, simply connecting with workers and getting their input and feedback not only dramatically improves morale, but it also makes their jobs easier. The average frontline worker spends three hours each week just searching for information they need to do their jobs.
With a mobile collaboration and productivity tool, they have all the information they need at their fingertips. It streamlines operations by making their day-to-day tasks and work lives easier. They become more productive and more engaged. According toGallup, a connected workforce leads to a 17 percent boost in productivity, 21 percent profitability increase and a 40 percent decrease in turnover.
And on a human level, just connecting workers to the company and to each other, creating space for team members to build social connections at work goes a long way in driving engagement and boosting morale.
Workforce: Talk about the technology divide that you’ve seen between desk-based workers and frontline workers.
Grossmann: Historically, companies have invested most of their technology budget in desk-based workers while not really knowing how to connect with the frontline. It’s created a digital divide within the workplace. While desk workers have access to IT systems, email, telephones and much more, frontline workers lack the digital identity that desk-based workers are used to. It favors one group by giving them a voice while frontline workers are left without a way to contribute and connect.
Companies often resort to adapting an existing platform in their tech stack designed for desk-based workers for their frontline teams. But frontline workers have their own set of unique needs that often require different technology solutions.
Workforce: Many organizations with hourly employees still use manual, paper-based processes like scheduling and onboarding. Why should they digitize?
Grossmann: COVID-19 has accelerated the need for unified productivity and collaboration tools and the process of digitization that comes with them. If there was ever a moment to invest in frontline worker enablement, this is it. Companies are realizing just how much more efficient they are when they digitalize workflows and empower their teams with mobile technology.
First, paper-based processes are inefficient and are more likely to lead to miscommunication, which costs small companies about$460,000 a year. What’s more, completing this paperwork is repetitive and time consuming for staff. Automating routine tasks can free up employees’ time to spend on value-add tasks.
For example, if HR used a digital platform to automate the onboarding process and digitize employee paperwork, they could then spend more time on high level initiatives like recruitment and retention. This is also true of shift management. With a digital tool,creating schedules and communicating changes with employees is streamlined through one hub.
Grossmann: At Beekeeper, we have actually seen HR departments initiate the digital transformation journey in their own organizations. However, no matter who gets the ball rolling, it’s critical that top leadership supports and invests in digital transformation to set the tone for the project. If the CEO is passionate about progress, then frontline workers will follow their lead and support it, too.
From automating the onboarding process to digitizing payroll, HR teams can dramatically benefit from productivity tools, too. We have one customer, a casino with over 600 workers, that saved nearly $100,000 by digitizing paper-based processes, including HR forms that once had to be filled out manually.
Workforce: So, I am a manager. We’ve just digitized our employee communications through a smartphone app. And I see my employee on the floor checking their phone instead of restocking the yogurt and sour cream. How should I react?
Grossmann: I realize that letting employees use their phones at work can be a sensitive subject. Objections such as: they’re too distracting; they negatively affect productivity; they just simply “don’t belong” at work. I get it. It can be tempting to throw your hands up and banish the use of cell phones at work once and for all.
But the truth is that a “no tolerance” take on cell phone policies may not be the best solution, except for highly sterile procedures or risky production processes. In the modern day workplace, cell phones are a needed resource to facilitate internal collaboration, especially for employees who don’t have computer access or a company email account and allow them to better serve customers
I believe that the benefits of allowing employees to use phones at work greatly outweigh the risks if implemented properly. The key to successfully allowing cell phones in the workplace lies in creating a clear BYOD policy and making sure everyone understands what’s expected of them. Proactively addressing the key concerns is the first step to creating a solution that fits your company’s needs. Don’t let fear of change cause your organization to miss out on all the advantages of mobile communication in the workplace.
Workforce: You make a really interesting point about employees taking communications into their own hands by using commercial products like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger for workplace communications. Why is that wrong?
Grossmann: Aside from security concerns, another problem with using WhatsApp for workplace communication is that it can sometimes create more confusion and chaos for workers. Juggling multiple group chats, no user management, and unprofessional user names make managing business communication through WhatsApp very difficult.
All this confusion ultimately leads to unclear, disjointed and disconnected workplace communication. In the end, WhatsApp can hurt productivity more than it helps. If managers are spending 15 minutes of each shift trying to figure out which group chat the closing checklist was sent to, then it pretty much defeats the purpose.
Don’t get me wrong. WhatsApp is fine for social communication. But when it comes to business, workers need a robust, collaborative platform with features and capabilities (like integrations) that streamline workflows and communication and enable them to be more productive.
I like to compare social media apps to the Wild West: they’re unregulated, out of control, and carry potential security consequences for a business. Companies have no control over consumer-grade communication apps.
Workforce: Communicating with your employees through an app is all well and good. But with an hourly workforce, aren’t you treading on potential wage and hour or overtime violations if they are “on” 24/7?
Having access to employees around the clock does not mean they should be accessible and available to the company 24/7. With Beekeeper, employees can set the app to the “Do Not Disturb” mode that can also be linked to their shifts automatically and mute push notifications outside of work hours. This respects the free time of off-duty frontline workers and also reduces a company’s legal risks around wage and hour labor laws that can arise when contacting employees when they’re not working.
Fair play rules are also essential when it comes to integrating workplace technology. Employees must understand that they may only use employer-provided communication technology, such as an app, during work hours.
Workforce: While we’re on that subject, talk about avoiding potential compliance violations when you digitalize employee communications.
Grossmann: On top of labor laws and data security, each industry has regulatory agencies who have specific standards and rules for companies. For example, manufacturing and construction must comply with OSHA. Health departments and the FDA have rigorous laws that govern the restaurant industry. It’s a lot for companies to keep track of and a workplace platform can help make sure theystay compliant on all levels.
Another topic that must be considered when discussing employee communications compliance is privacy and how data is treated. GDPR, CCPA, and other regulations have clear guidelines on how personal data of employees must be handled. It’s crucial to have the proper certified systems in place to address this.
Workforce: You are the CEO of Beekeeper, but you’ve also spent considerable time as a frontline worker. Talk about your experiences, and how that helps you shape your company’s mission and goals.
Grossmann: Before I got into technology, I was actually a frontline worker myself. I was a factory worker, a waiter, and a chemical engineer. I started very early on learning how frontline industries work as one of my grandfathers worked in a copper factory and the other one in a paint production factory. Also, my father worked with a team of electricians and blacksmiths to produce and automate garage doors in Mexico City. I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with them learning how those businesses worked, and especially how crucial it was to have clear and simple systems in place — at that time many of their processes were all paper based! I draw on that perspective and experience to inform the ways we have been and continue to evolve and improve Beekeeper to support more frontline workers.
We serve some of the largest frontline-powered companies in the world and I also rely on what our customers want and need in a mobile productivity platform. We’re honored that companies rely on Beekeeper to support and connect their frontline workers.
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The workforce management solutions industry is one that is constantly innovating and evolving, bringing with it both challenges and opportunities. Workforce.com is adding to its experienced, talented leadership team to capitalize on the changing needs of the global market.
The latest addition to Workforce.com’s leadership is actually a company veteran who is leaving Australia behind to take on a new challenge in Europe.
Rod Schneider was recently named general manager of Workforce.com’s office in the United Kingdom. Now based in London, Schneider, who previously was head of partnerships for Workforce.com in Australia, will oversee the company’s operations throughout Europe. With offices in France and Croatia, Schneider said he is looking forward to building relationships across the continent.
“Taking on a whole different market is very, very exciting. Some may think that it’s an odd time to make this move, but if you think about the lockdown nearing an end, it’s really forward looking. Building our external engagement is going to be a big part of what we’re trying to achieve to become more broadly known and have that broader impact here,” Schneider said.
“His success across the board in Australia, aligning with our global mission, means that Rod is fully committed and his passion and talent is just what we need in the UK as companies emerge from the pandemic,” said Tasmin Trezise, president of Workforce.com.
Schneider, who joined Workforce.com in 2016 following a career as a financial adviser, said he is eager to help companies across Europe rebuild their post-pandemic business. He will be meeting with current customers and develop new business as well. “You have good businesses that are looking to bring back their former staff, but in some cases those staff have found other jobs,” he said. “That presents a real challenge to organisations as they rebuild their businesses.”
With a keen focus on customer relationship management and an increasingly broad workforce management product portfolio that continues to expand, Schneider will work closely with the rest of the Workforce.com leadership team to prepare the organisation for the opportunities that lie ahead throughout Europe.
Workforce.com is perfectly positioned to help companies effectively restart their business, he said. “A paper roster is not going to cut it anymore. Workforce will help organisations make sure they are rostering their teams as efficiently as possible,” Schneider said. “It’s exciting to help people get their businesses back up and running.”
A native of Toowoomba, Australia, Schneider has a master’s degree in business from the University of South Queensland. He currently lives in London with his wife.
Workforce.com, the world’s oldest organization dedicated to workforce research and product leader in workforce management technology, recently announced its plans to partner with technically ambitious companies to leverage its nearly 100 years of research to build and solve new workforce challenges.
Rachael Keech, Domino’s Head of Operations Innovation, attested to labor management being one of the biggest challenges facing businesses today and Workforce’s track record. “The rate at which Workforce.com has worked to adapt and innovate is outstanding. They think outside the box and provide innovative operational solutions.”
“Our guiding mission is to be the industry powerhouse for workforce management research and development,” said Workforce.com President Tasmin Trezise. “Our company is designed to work closely with future forward organizations to prototype and deploy new and disruptive ways of solving age-old problems.”
Workforce.com will propel groundbreaking research and development around traditional workforce management solutions such as scheduling, staffing, and time and attendance. Understanding the numerous HR problems that exist, Workforce.com will ambitiously undertake such challenges as accurately optimizing staffing levels and enhancing the employee experience. Auto scheduling, shift ratings and feedback are among the innovations that Workforce.com’s development team has already brought to market.
Workforce.com research previously has focused on general trends and topics. Further to conducting surveys and polls to establish challenges, Workforce.com seeks to be results-driven, adding a development perspective to that as well. Results won’t just be whitepapers created by the research lab, but viable products that can be deployed into a company for managers and frontline staff to help solve those challenges.
“We don’t grow as organizations unless we are solving new challenges in new ways,” Trezise said. “We’re wanting to put together a more formal way of distinguishing the challenges and rapidly prototype and solve those problems. The philosophy here is to work closely with industry to imagine and build better solutions to solve the workforce problems of the future. That’s the heart of research and development.”
If you’re looking to innovate in your people practices but not sure how we’d love to talk. Sign up for a free account or schedule a demo to see the exciting lineup of solutions to help your organization succeed and grow.
Organizations were forced to rethink operations in 2020 and shift their strategies overnight, prompting new investments in workforce management technology. So, what’s to come in 2021?
We’ve compiled a list of the top 5 and specific workforce.com technology features we predict will be key trends this year. These include COVID recovery, labor compliance, automated scheduling, advanced workforce analytics and increased cloud and mobility functionality.
Labor compliance and minimum wage changes
The Biden administration is pushing to raise the federal hourly minimum wage to $15 by 2025. While legislation has yet to be passed, organizations will be preparing for minimum wage changes and complying correctly. Companies that fail to comply are at risk of facing stiff financial penalties and negative public attention.
Staying abreast of these changes will be crucial, and organizations will be looking to have an automated system in place that will make the transition easier. Organizations will require solutions that can simplify and automate labor law compliance. They will need a proactive platform that accounts for all applicable federal, state and local labor regulations from employee scheduling to payroll processing.
Workforce.com continues to invest in our fully automated and user customizable compliance engine, pioneered in Australia to manage the world’s most complicated and expensive wage laws and costs. Instead of manually updating or having to calculate different wages for schedules, overtime and payroll, organizations will be able to have changes automatically forecasted and updated. We predict labor compliance to continue to become increasingly complicated due to political, regional and union influence.
Higher wages will also mean increased labor cost and a need for companies to be smarter around how they schedule, track and spend on wages. Workforce management features that can boost employee productivity while providing wage oversight for owners and front-line teams to proactively manage will be key.
A way to address this will be the Workforce.com Live Wage Tracker, which provides a real-time view of staff count, exact costs and where there may be overspending per shift factored for compliance. It equips frontline managers to make decisions quickly and adjust staffing levels accordingly throughout the day. With this, businesses can be more efficient in controlling their labor costs and optimizing real-time operations.
As the world recovers from COVID-19 and shift work industries return to normal, it will remain paramount for organizations to have a workforce management platform in place for ensuring employee health, safety and feedback.
As workers return to their shifts in numbers, clear communication will be vital to responding to queries and staying agile as a team. Workforce.com innovations this year include the live 360-degree shift feedback and ratings feature so comments can be gathered from employees after each shift and proactively managed. Their responses enable managers to quickly address issues and apply necessary changes to future shifts. This tool promotes transparency and will provide an avenue for employees to speak up and be heard.
Tracking accurate time and attendance but minimizing contact with communal punch clocks will also continue to remain a priority for organizations. Instead of these older physical devices we predict an accelerated rise of next-gen mobile, app, GPS and tablet clocking in solutions that addresses these concerns.
For instance, with workforce.com GPS Clock ins instead of just one device for clocking in, staff will be able to use this feature to clock in on their own mobile device. Employees who are on the go can also use it to accurately log their start and end times, as well as their break and location while on shift. This results in a lower hardware and maintenance cost of ensuring accurate timesheets while reducing multiple touches to a communal device.
Workforce.com has also developed a completely free tool called Reopen to help businesses manage their capacity and social distancing requirements as they open. By allowing customers to make an appointment online, this will assist businesses in managing the number of people within their premises at a particular time. Organizations will be able to set opening hours, and customers can book in a time slot using their phone.
Auto employee scheduling
We predict further advancements in automated employee scheduling in 2021 with an introduction of advanced algorithms and automatic demand prediction, shift building and shift filling. The future of auto-scheduling looks to be creating ‘win-win’ shifts for employees and employers that drive maximum efficiency whilst optimizing for employee choice and flexibility
Demand prediction is considered the first key step in auto-scheduling. The more applicable information that can be collected about how busy it’s forecasted to be, the more accurate and confident the staff coverage. Workforce.com can currently integrate with any existing business system (I.e POS, MES, HMS, ERP’s etc) to capture this demand data and predict staffing requirements. This can then be adjusted for location unique factors such as events, weather, seasonal changes, trends and manager discretion.
I.e., This Super Bowl will be 20 percent busier than last year. Next Tuesday will be as busy as the average of the last three Tuesdays. Next Friday will be 40 percent less busy because it will be raining.
Once managers have confidence in their demand prediction, shift building is the next step. Software like Workforce.com can help managers create shift patterns for the amount of work that needs to be done, while keeping in mind regulations that set limits on how few or many people can be working at a given time. Still, managers need to ascertain certain information from employees to help make this possible, such as by approaching employees and getting hard numbers on how long it takes to complete basic tasks within their shifts.
Shift filling is where the most innovation comes in where managers will be able to effortlessly fill shifts factoring multiple constraints, such as labor costs, qualifications, roles and labor laws. If an employee is unavailable, managers can offer that shift to other available staff. Workforce.com can then show managers how much a potential shift swap costs, enabling them to stay on budget.
Being smart at shift building and shift filling against projected business demand will ultimately both make employees more satisfied and help control budget efficiency. Managers will be able to accomplish this with the right tools that give them the best potential technology and algorithms while also giving them the opportunity to put the employee in the process. Technology built on this win-win philosophy will be the future of automated employee scheduling with both employee and employer achieving desired outcomes.
These advancements in “one-click scheduling” are predicted to drastically save on manager administrative time, optimize labor cost and reduce over/under staffing.
Advanced workforce analytics and open APIs
Increased adoption of the workforce.com open API is expected to bring huge advancements in workforce analytics and promote internal innovation, integration and personalization. By leveraging the power of connectivity, enterprises can quickly eliminate the chaos of using multiple applications leading to rapid innovation and deeper insights into their workforces.
Companies that can efficiently discover patterns, spot potential problems and optimize their workforce quickly will stay ahead in 2021. This is only possible when organizations have access to their data and have the mechanisms to generate reports that are clear, easy to understand and make the most sense for stakeholders such as HR, payroll, managers and employees.
With Workforce.com’s advanced reporting suite and API, organizations will be able create custom reports and workflows for efficient analysis. Companies can choose to use customizable built-in reports or create their own by pulling information from any data point.
2021 will continue the rise of native SaaS cloud applications over clunky enterprise workforce management software with organizations preferring improved frontline manager/employee mobility options and ease of use. Employees should love to use the tools provided or they generally won’t use them at all.
Simple and modern UI has long been missing from workforce management solutions with organizations needing to solve their problems and complete tasks in the easiest and quickest way possible. Workforce.com remains the leader in workforce management design as we continue to invest in simplicity and ease of use to increase employee engagement, usability and lower support and implementation issues.
It’s also becoming paramount for organizations to lead with a mobile first strategy for their workforce management. Workforce.com will continue to expand our employee mobile app that staff and managers can use to clock in, see timesheets, create schedules and communicate with the rest of the team.
Implementation expectations adhere to these ease of use and quick-to-learn principles with organizations expecting higher standards and tighter deadlines when rolling out or switching from a legacy solution. Workforce.com implementation is now easier and faster ensuring that users can start using the platform in no time reaping benefits of upgrading faster.
In 2021 we predict an increased migration to cloud computing services like workforce.com due to increased functionality, reliability, scalability, security, continual R&D and decrease in cost.
There are currently 300,000 users on the Workforce.com platform, with a 4.75 app star-rating average and 99 percent client retention. Find out why and try Workforce.com today.
