Reduce Overtime Costs With Demand-Driven Scheduling And Online Time Clock Software

Payroll is one of the most expensive parts of running a business. Keeping track of everyone’s hours and making sure your labor costs aren’t eating away at your budget can be difficult without the proper tools. Manual time clocks don’t allow for adequate oversight of things like scheduling and overtime hours. 

Online time clock software can eliminate many of these issues by giving you precise control over employee scheduling and attendance. Accessing employee schedules in real-time lets, you create demand-driven schedules that reduce inefficiency and lower overall labor costs. 

Use Need-Based Scheduling to Reduce Costs 

One of the most significant benefits of online time clock software is the ability to adjust schedules and make changes in real-time and on the fly. By managing your schedule using this tool, you can easily adjust schedules and staffing levels to meet the needs of your business. 

Managing your schedule regardless of location allows you to increase personnel and employee hours during high traffic periods or when lots of business needs to get done. You can also reduce staffing levels or employee hours when business demand is lower so that you don’t have to worry about labor costs during a slow period for the company. 

Having easy access to your schedule allows you to reduce the likelihood of unnecessary overtime in periods where business is slow while still giving you the ability to adjust when business picks up. Being flexible is one of the keys to maximizing profit and minimizing expenses for any business and online time clock software can help you achieve that.

Use Notifications to Manage Employee Hours 

Employee timesheet software can also be used to send reminders and notifications about employees who are nearing their scheduled limit of hours and are about to hit overtime. Using these notifications, you can take to remedy the issue at hand.

You can then replace them with employees who have hours to spare so that you reduce the overall cost of labor by legally avoiding overtime altogether. An added benefit of managing employee overtime is that you reduce the rate of employee burnout and ensure employees are adequately rested. 

Not only is overtime costly in a financial sense, but too much overtime can also lead to a loss of productivity and work efficiency that can cost businesses even more in the long run. Employees who wind up working long hours of overtime will often become exhausted over time. Burnout could lead to high turnover rates and is harmful to productivity and employee morale. 

Employees who feel overworked are likely to perform poorly compared to employees who can rest and recuperate after their shift. This can lead to feelings of resentment for management and the business as a whole. Managing overtime with an online time clock saves money in the form of overtime pay and in the cost to employee productivity and morale that follows. 

Use Historical Data to Manage Staffing Levels 

Online timesheet software gives you the added benefit of recording data that you can look back at later for reference. Historical data can show you what your staffing levels looked like during any given time and help you quickly find patterns as to when business was slow or busier than average.

You can then use the online time clock software data to better forecast staffing levels in the future. Using demand-driven scheduling will save on unnecessary overtime by letting you add staff members or call in workers during times of heavy business. 

Simultaneously, you can use the data gathered by the online timecard system to cut back on hours when you know business will slow down. This is particularly useful for companies that have busy seasons, such as during the holidays. You can adjust to slow periods and lower hours or manage schedules so that employees only work a certain number of hours. This will let you nearly eliminate your overtime expenses.