Digital Solutions That Prevent Buddy Punching
Published: 10/01/2022
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Every business owner, manager, and supervisor knows that time is money. Therefore, paying for someone’s time implies it should be spent on your needs; otherwise, it’s a waste of money. This is the very issue embodied by workplace absenteeism, and in this article, we will discuss the false claims regarding how the paid time was used, commonly referred to as buddy punching.
When extending a job offer and signing a contract, both the employer and the employee establish a very straightforward deal. The employee receives a list of responsibilities and tasks they are required to carry out. In return, the employer is obliged to pay the employee for the work completed and the time spent on it. Unfortunately, it does not always proceed smoothly.
Absenteeism is a significant issue that leads to considerable financial losses for companies of all sizes across various sectors. It can manifest in different ways, ranging from no-shows to the misuse of sick leave allowances. In this article, we will discuss a specific and widely prevalent form—buddy punching.
Buddy punching refers to an employee clocking in or out for a colleague. It involves covering someone's absence, lateness, or unauthorised break time by managing the attendance system on their behalf. Although this issue is not new, it is increasingly discussed, primarily because employers are more aware of the financial damage it can cause.
As the previous paragraph suggests, the primary negative impact of buddy punching is the loss of revenue. You end up paying staff who have not been working. This constitutes fraud, akin to stealing from the company, and it can cost your business millions each year. However, that said, the financial loss isn’t the only harm this malpractice causes.
Naturally, having fewer staff who work shorter hours will affect overall productivity. Even if an employee is consistently late by 5 to 10 minutes, this will accumulate to many hours not worked, potentially causing delays in projects. You will also have no visibility over that. Another, less commonly discussed, issue caused by buddy punching is the inaccuracy of records regarding who is on-site. In an emergency, this can potentially endanger emergency services, which may lead to legal issues.
Nothing happens without a reason—and buddy punching is no exception. Surprisingly, employee tardiness is very rarely the cause of such behaviour. More often, buddy punching stems from a lack of schedule flexibility, fear of repercussions, or general dissatisfaction and disinterest in work. It is also important to note that it is almost never a single cause, but rather a combination of several factors.
The simplest way to identify the motives behind a fraud is to have a one-on-one conversation with the offender, asking them directly. However, depending on your relationship, this may not yield an answer. In that case, you should search for clues in other areas. The employee’s communication with colleagues, productivity, and visible signs of distress (e.g., rapid weight loss) are good places to begin.
Although most companies have digitised their time tracking practices instead of using paper timesheets, many systems can be easily manipulated through buddy punching. Whether it involves card swiping or logging into one’s assigned machine, as long as other staff have access, it is simple to tamper with the system. The good news, however, is that there is a way to prevent time theft.
Unlike paper timesheets that can be forged, swipe cards that can be passed around, or punch cards that can be used by anyone, digital timesheets are much harder to manipulate. Firstly, they can only be accessed by the individual clocking in or out, whether the timesheet solution is linked to their credentials or a personal device. For instance, at Timesheet Portal, each employee receives unique login details, making buddy punching a far more complex process that most workers will not bother with.
Additionally, a digital time-tracking solution ensures that the timesheets are not tampered with after being filled in. Although timesheet forgery and general malpractice are not entirely impossible when using time-tracking software, it requires a high degree of knowledge, certain data, and an overall understanding of how the system works. With that in mind, it’s unlikely your staff will even attempt it.
Another factor that makes digital timesheets more secure and convenient is their accessibility to all parties involved. If, for example, your business location doesn’t have access to computers, software solutions like Timesheet Portal are also available on mobile devices. Not only does this provide access to the timesheets on the go, but it also adds another layer of complexity to clocking in and out on someone else’s behalf.
Digital timesheets are also considerably easier to process. While developing our software, we considered the significant amount of time wasted on rectifying timesheet errors. Therefore, instead of spending hours fixing these issues, you can simply reject the submitted timesheet and have the employee review and correct it themselves.
Naturally, you want to ensure that costly malpractice like buddy punching never occurs in your company, whether it has happened in the past or not. While the digitalisation of attendance tracking helps to identify, stop, and prevent it, you should always address the root of the problem to achieve the best results.
At the beginning of this article, we’ve discussed the most common reasons for buddy punching. The best long-term solution is to address them directly. While the use of digital timesheet software serves as a great preventative measure, it doesn’t completely resolve the issue, as it often arises from the employee’s dissatisfaction or discomfort rather than malice.
Even if buddy punching is prevented, these factors can lead to your employee being either laid off for repeated attendance violations or quitting due to their needs not being addressed. Therefore, while you should invest in software, do not expect it to do all the work. It is your responsibility to keep the communication channel open with your staff, understand their motives, and seek compromises.
Buddy punching is an extremely harmful malpractice that can negatively impact your business performance, cost billions in financial losses and even lead to legal issues. The simplest solution is to invest in a piece of time tracking software, as it is more difficult to tamper with than traditional time and attendance recording methods.
However, it’s important to understand that buddy punching is more than employees being intentionally malicious. This means you will need to dig deeper to identify the cause and work together with them to address it and find a suitable solution. This can sometimes be a long, thorough process; therefore, setting a preventative measure in the form of software is a logical first step.
Are you prepared to initiate the process? Let us know.