Overtime can be a major headache for just about any company, but construction trades sometimes live and die based on the hours of employees. While your employees may be willing to put in a little extra time in order to get the job done, this shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a good thing. First of all, this is consistently one of the largest expenses that companies are making. With construction on the rise this year, the last thing you want to do is spend money on overtime while you could be leveraging it for more success. In addition, statistics show that wage and hour disputes are the most popular form of employee litigation. The good news is that with proper time tracking, you can start limiting overtime headaches right away.
Using Your Tools
Time cards used to be the classic way of tracking employee hours to make sure that they were compliant, but the fact of the matter is that this is an outdated and time-consuming method. You can get improved accuracy with less struggle, by using time tracking apps as opposed to time cards.
For example, a time tracking app allows your employees to stay on the clock only for as long as needed, instead of rounding and padding based on “best guess”. You can also save time on the logistical end because these are quicker to process and audit, without having to be cross-referenced with complex spreadsheets.
Managers can also use mobile apps to be alerted when the overtime threshold is reached. This enables them to adapt and change their plans on the fly to be more productive.
Daily reports are an extension of this mentality, but they are applicable to individual employees as well. This can help office managers figure out potential reasons for overtime, especially if you are working with a smaller team. In some cases, you may have a good crew that is too small or stretched too thin for the workload they are tasked with. In other cases, you may be dealing with employee time theft. Everyone in construction knows this is a problem, but do you know how MUCH of a problem? The average employee steals 4 hours and 5 minutes every week, according to data from the American Payroll Association. In some cases, this is inevitable, but daily reports on each employee can help you pinpoint patterns and address them in the future.
How busybusy Changes the Game
There are several tools out there that can help in this regard, but busybusy goes above and beyond by using specific time tracking and daily reporting catered to the construction industry. Keep track of the usage of your equipment with equipment tracking. In addition, you can utilize automation with e-signatures for time cards that ensure that employees don’t take excess time they don’t need, and without you having to lose time chasing down members of your crew. Tackling the classic issue of excessive overtime requires a modernized approach, and busybusy means you can do it straight from your mobile device.
