6 reasons why switching to a digital timesheet is also worthwhile for small construction companies
Before you introduce digital timesheets in your construction company, you want to know how you will benefit, what you can expect from the implementation and what costs you will incur. Here’s a list of the main benefits of using digital Time tracking software for your business.
The good news first of all: digitalization can start very practically and in small steps. The benefits are immediately visible and your employees’ workload is noticeably reduced. For most construction companies, time sheets filled out by hand still mean a huge amount of work. Employees have to enter their exact working hours on the timesheet every day, account for breaks and name their activities.
For all employees, this is an unloved part of everyday working life that is time-consuming and often leads to errors. Submitting them is also stressful, as all timesheets must be received by the payroll department by Friday at the latest. But that’s just the start of the work – typing up the timesheets, some of which are filled out incorrectly or incompletely, takes a lot of time. As a result, countless folders are filled with paper. However, Time tracking in particular shows the advantages of introducing digital processes. Everything is much simpler and clearer than initially thought. And it turns out that a paperless office is also possible for the construction industry. It saves a lot of time, nerves and resources.
Employers have an obligation to record working hours
Employers are legally obliged to accurately record and store working hours. The European Working Time Directives, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and German law all stipulate an obligation to record working hours.
For the majority of employment relationships, there is also an obligation to record all hours worked in excess of the maximum permitted working time of 8 hours per day – even in the case of trust-based working hours. It is not enough to simply keep a Construction diary that does not take travel and set-up times into account.
Employers are legally obliged to document all working hours and keep them for at least two years. If they fail to comply with these obligations, employers can face severe fines.
Time tracking: The advantages of digital timesheets
1. an end to the confusing paperwork – for sustainable data storage
Switching to digital timesheets means that the paperwork is finally a thing of the past. Employees only have to log in in the morning and log out again in the evening. The technology takes care of everything else. All data is then immediately available – for example for the managing director and the accounts department. Using an individually stored set of rules, the system automatically calculates the wages for each employee in the Construction payroll module. And all data is automatically fed into the daily construction report, which you use to document all activities on each individual construction site.
2. digital timesheets protect the environment
Getting away from timesheets also means that you save paper every day. What doesn’t seem like much at first adds up over time. Some documents have to be kept for many years and you end up with half a library. Digital, on the other hand, only produces the most essential paper. This is an important step towards greater sustainability and you are doing your bit for the environment.
3. employees can fill out digital timesheets with 2 clicks – this saves an incredible amount of time
Your employees are doing a great job, but most of them find it annoying to have to keep track of their timesheets. At the end of the day, they just want to get home quickly. Digital Time tracking makes it easier for them, because everything is done in two clicks. A pleasant side effect: employees don’t have to calculate and breaks are automatically deducted. Log in in the morning, log out in the evening – Time tracking is easy with digital timesheets.
4. you decide individually who fills out the digital timesheets
You can decide whether each employee records their own times or whether the crew leader/foreman does it on behalf of their entire construction site team. It depends on how you organize your employees – and how much you want to involve them in this new digital process.
5. employees are used to using their smartphone
Digitalization has long been omnipresent in other areas of life and young employees in particular are used to organizing their lives with the help of their smartphones. Buying train tickets, booking movies, shopping online, online banking or navigation – there is an app for more and more things, making many things easier. Many employees will be pleased that this is now also possible for work. Even older employees usually have a cell phone. When they experience how easy it is to fill out digital timesheets, they quickly lose their fear of tracking their working hours via smartphone.
6. easy introduction and modular structure make the entry into digitization a success
Digitizing processes is quick and easy with an app. This also works without the need for dedicated IT staff. Only use the app features and modules that you really need to keep costs as low as possible. It is also advisable to bill the use of the software according to the number of users. This way, the costs are adapted to the size of your company. Nothing can really go wrong with an app, but there is support for all questions: employees who will quickly take care of your concerns.
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