The purpose of this document is to provide a foundation for discussion, decisions, and definition of your system This document defines the current Time and Labor business practices of the Client along with ideas for the forthcoming implementation.
Question and Answers
Time Collection Process, Time Period and Time Reporting Code
1. Do you electronically track employee time worked? If so, what technologies are used to enter time?
Internet
Intranet
Electronic Timesheets
Clocking systems (Kronos)
Swipe card (i.e. Employee Badges)
Other (please describe)
2. Do you have employees or groups of employees who record time on paper-based time sheets? If so is there a need to print new timesheets?
3. Is employee time entered centrally or is time entry decentralized?

4. Does the time collection system allow time entry for groups of employees or for one employee at a time?
5. Do you have staff, such as timekeepers, who collect and post time? Please provide details of the process of collecting time and who collects and posts time.
6. Is there a restriction on who can enter hourly employees’ time versus salaried employees’ time?
7. Can employees enter their own time?
8. Can employees inquire and view their entered work hours?
9. Is time approved? If so who approves time? What is the procedure for approving employee time? Can time be approved electronically?
10. How is time capture for both electronic and paper timecards: hours per day or punch time ins and outs or are employees paid a standard schedule and only exceptions are captured or all three depending on the employee?
11. Currently, where is time entered corrected if there is an error? At the data entry level or is it corrected in the payroll process?
12. What is the input of incremental time, such as half days for vacation, etc. currently allowed?
13. If standard hours are used, what are your employees’ standard hours?

14. If time capture differs for different employees, explain the business process on what determines how the employees’ time will be captured.
15. Can retroactive time and labor adjustments be made once a time period has ended? Describe any situations that require you to pay employees hours and/or amounts from the prior period.
16. How are new employees set up for reporting time? Please describe the business process for “enrolling” your new hires in your existing time management system.
17. What are the beginning and end days of the time period? How does this relate to the payroll cycle?
18. What are the beginning and ending times for a 24 hour period?
19. Describe all of the specific time codes that are used in recording time in the current system, including any recorded hours for unpaid time, such as Unpaid Sick, Unpaid Vacation. Does the present system track absences or tardiness?
20. What are the Public Holidays offered to the employees? Are the same Holidays offered to all employees’ or are there different Holiday Schedules for different employees.
21. If more than one Holiday Schedule, what determines which Holidays are offered to an employee?
22. What are the specific business processes that must be adhered to for time reporting, such as Education leave must have at least 1 hour keyed to a maximum of 8 per year?

23. Aside from capturing hours, do you also record data elements such as dollar amounts or units? Such as flat dollar bonus amounts or units like 30 cents per mile.

Cost Allocation, Schedules and Shifts Processes
1. Is your timekeeping system used for allocating costs? Do you define how and/or where an employee time is spent? Are there certain tasks that are grouped together? Please describe how your costs codes are structured and how they are assigned to the time reported by employees.
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2. Does the organization use Work Orders to capture information about labor costs? How is the information used?
3. Do your employees work shifts? What are they?
4. Is an employee assigned to one shift or are they allowed to work multiple shifts? Can they work multiple shifts in a day and/or in a week?
5. How many shifts make up a workday?
6. Are shift employees paid a differential? How is the differential calculated?
7. Describe your FLSA processing requirements? What days constitute the definition of your workweek? (E.g. Mon – Fri, Sun – Sat). Are FLSA requirements union driven?
8. Do all employees work the same schedule or are they flexible work schedules? Please describe all the different schedules that employees work.

9. Are employees allowed to work several jobs in the same week? In the same day?
10. If an employee is working out of his/her job classification, is their different rate of pay and how does the timekeeper or payroll representative determine the rate of pay?
11. Are employee’s represented by Unions/Bargaining unit(s)? If so, how many Unions/bargaining units?
12. When do these unions bargain? What are the bargaining seasons?

Time Administration Processes
1. What are the time processing rules currently used today? For example: How is Overtime calculated, only hours worked or does the calculation included Vacation, Holiday etc? Is it overtime after 8 hours in a day or after 40 hours in a week? Are these rules the same for all employees or different for each class of employee? If so, please describe each rule being used.
2. Are leave balances maintained at time entry level? If so, list all types of leave that are maintained.
3. If leave balances are maintained at time entry, describe what happens when the employee’s leave requested is greater than the employee’s leave balance or are the employee’s allowed to carry a negative balance?
4. If employees work flexible schedules, are the hours paid for vacation, holiday and sick based on the flex schedules.
5. How is the entered time validated? For example, if total time entered exceeds standard hours, does the current system provide red flags for the approver to review?

6. List any reports that are used to validate this time. Please submit an example.
7. Are control totals used to reconcile employee time entry? Describe the process. Please identify and give an example of any reports used for reconciling.
8. What are the mechanisms for correcting error data? Please describe the business process for correcting data that your time collection system has invalidated.
9. Do you have any audit needs regarding who has changed or approved time?
10. What employee information is available for time entry personnel?

Compensatory Time Management Processes
1. Are Client employees allowed to report Compensatory Time (Comp Time)?
2. How is Comp Time earned? Can the accruals be recorded in the existing time collection or payroll systems?
3. How do employees take their Comp Time?
4. Are Comp Time balances maintained automatically by the existing system?
5. Are Comp Time balances adjusted at the end of the year? How is that adjusting done? Manually? Electronically?

6. Can Comp Time expire? What are the conditions under which Comp Time would be considered to have expired?
7. Can Comp Time be bought, sold or donated? How are these transactions handled?

Time and Labor Integration with Payroll, Human Resources, and Projects
1. Is the timekeeping system electronically integrated with an automated payroll system? Please describe the process of integrating the two systems.
2. Which system calculates the time rules, such as Overtime, shifts and such?
3. How often is time collected and uploaded to payroll? Do the time periods, used for capturing time, follow the payroll period?
4. What is the current deadline that time must be entered and calculated so payroll can be processed in a timely matter
5. If time does not load to payroll, what are the procedures for investigating, rectifying, re-approving and paying for that time?
6. Describe how your Time and Attendance business process integrates with human resources and payroll? Does your existing T&A system interface electronically with your payroll and HR systems?
7. Aside from Payroll, does your current time keeping system interface to any other system (internal or external)? Such as a Project or Funds. Please list those interfaces and describe what they do.

Reporting/Outbound Data
1. Are there reports generated to balance and prove employee time entry?
2. Are time reports generated to be sent back to time originators/collectors?
3. Are time reports generated for managers to approve time?
4. Please list and describe all time reports that are generated from the current system. Please submit an example of all the reports.

Policies and Procedures
Please provide any policies and procedures manuals and desk references currently being used by your department for time management.

Going through many books during a recent move, the cluetrain manifesto surfaced. Having read it before it seemed apparent it had been saved for a reason. Reading back through the 95 theses in the beginning provides 95 reasons for a re-read. The theses apply at different times but some of my favorites include things like the org chart today is hyperlinked not the old pyramid. There are those who would like to maintain that heirarchy as it provides them with “secrets” and “power”, but it will be short lived in a hyperlinked organization.

Command and control are outdated and just enhance bereaucracy and power as well as a culture of paranoia. Don’t talk to the CEO as it will only result in TMI for them. Don’t skip levels in the heirarchy or power will be lost to your superior. Hah, and Dah, these no longer apply. Most communication failures can be traced to command and control.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but employees want access to corporate information and not just in a brochure or an annual report. Employees want to know what the strategy is, where the corporation is going, the mission and results. How do they fit in the corporate culture and how many ways are they contributing to the results.

Cluetrain points out a new kind of organizational conversation between and among workers. The conversation is making them smarter and more productive. Isn’t it time for your organization to join the conversation?