August 24, 2020

COVID-19 has forced companies to go remote or use contactless solutions as much as possible. While remote work has been embraced by many companies, it isn’t a perfect solution for everyone. For brick-and-mortar businesses, like supermarkets, farms, nurseries and production facilities, masks, social distancing and disinfecting are now commonplace, and contactless equipment and devices are also the norm.  

To keep employees safer and healthier, companies are looking for contactless systems as part of their business operations including touchless employee time and attendance solutions.  

Employee time and attendance solutions that fit the new workplace

Companies of all sizes and industries are turning to face recognition employee time clocks for contactless clocking in and out during COVID-19. Other technologically advanced biometric solutions like fingerprint readers and swipe badges work well in delivering accurate timekeeping, but many companies are choosing face recognition technology for its touchless benefit.

Face recognition employee time clock system provides a hygienic, touchless solution, allowing employees to look and go as they clock in in seconds. Once an employee’s face is registered, these solutions identify unique points on a person’s face and store the information as data instead of a photo. Eliminating the need to touch the time clock reduces exposure and germ spreading in the workplace. It also solves buddy punching, when employees clock in and out for each other, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars.

Many face recognition time clocks integrate with cloud-based software that employers use to manage timekeeping and process payroll anytime, anytime, anywhere. All data can be accessed through a PC, tablet or mobile phone in real-time. These solutions also integrate with popular payroll systems such as QuickBooks, Paychex and ADP, making payroll processing faster and easier.

FaceIN face recognition time and attendance in action

Lathem’s FaceIN face recognition solution works for many companies, regardless of industry. Jimmy’s Food Store, a third-generation family-owned grocery in Dallas, upgraded its timekeeping solution from a punch clock and paper time cards to FaceIN and Lathem’s PayClock Online to eliminate buddy punching and reduce contact.

Jimmy’s Annette DiCarlo said, “It has given me flexibility in when and how I do payroll. We used to do payroll on Fridays, but now we do it Thursday night, so I can use Fridays for other business responsibilities.”

Blankenship Farms and Nursery, in McMinnville, Tenn. chose FaceIN to reduce the spread of germs and viruses like COVID-19. Employees don’t have to wait in line close to one another to clock in and out, helping with social distancing.

Owner Beth Blankenship said, “I realized employees were touching time cards and then I was handling them. The FaceIN time clock system keeps us from spreading germs.”

Ocean Beauty Seafoods, a salmon processor in Seattle, Wash., recently purchased 40 FaceIN clocks for its Alaska seafood processing locations, which each employs 200-300 workers. It helped the company with buddy punching. 

“The workers weren’t on set shifts, so we had some challenges with buddy punching,” said John Martin, IT Operations manager. “Now we can see who’s clocked in and can keep better track of employee time and attendance, plus the touchless aspect is a benefit.”

Touch-free employee time and attendance has become more popular than ever before, and will continue to grow. In fact, Lathem has seen a 5:1 uptick in sales over fingerprint clocks throughout the last several months. In this new COVID-19 environment, more businesses will rely on these technologies and solutions to protect employees, while enabling them to be productive.

Need helping finding the best employee time and attendance solution for your business? Contact us today to learn the perfect solution for your business and start your free time clock software trial today.