Attendance Regularization: Meaning, Importance & Process
Table of Contents
What is Attendance Regularization?
Attendance Regularization is a feature that lets employees rectify discrepancies in their attendance with just a few clicks. This attribute is necessary for employees who are at the office or working from home.
Employees can use an attendance device to punch in and out of work. Those working from home can use the regularize attendance option and select "work from home." For remote staff, their manager must approve the attendance request. Once the manager approves, the attendance record updates immediately.
Employees can ask to regularize their attendance easily through the Employee Self-Service (ESS) portal or a mobile app linked to the attendance system. After submitting a request, a manager or HR representative, as shown in the company chart, needs to approve it. One main advantage of this system is that any changes to attendance appear quickly and accurately, often in real-time.
Why do Attendance Discrepancies Happen?
Tracking attendance is not always easy. Sometimes, the biometric device might stop working suddenly. Urgent schedule changes or unexpected events in daily work can also happen. These situations can cause mistakes or even loss of data in attendance records.
Missed Punches
When an employee forgets to log their clock-in or clock-out time, it’s called a missed punch. This can happen during online check-in or when employees manually enter their work details. Missing punches can lead to errors in timesheet tracking, making it hard to accurately calculate hours worked.
Business Travel/Field Work
For employees working in the field or travelling for business, mistakes in attendance management occur due to manual entry reliance. When HR personnel fail to create specific attendance policies tailored to these employees, the issues are exemplified.
Biometric or Network Glitches
The most common attendance discrepancy that mostly occurs for bulk employees is when there is an issue with the devices recording attendance. This could be biometric devices, RFID systems, or GPS-based attendance systems. System malfunction or network downtime can lead to inaccurate records.
Shift Swaps & Flexi-Hours
When employees swap shifts, choose flexible hours, or there is a lack of overall roster management, it can sometimes lead to attendance issues. These problems often happen because of miscommunications, unclear policies, or the absence of a digital system to track attendance.
What is the Importance of Attendance Regularization?
According to the Economic Policy Institute, between 2021 and 2023, the Department of Labor helped workers recover over $1.5 billion in stolen wages. This shows just how serious attendance issues can be and reminds us of the need to keep regular attendance.
1. Reduces the Workload of HR
An automated employee attendance management system supports real-time attendance regularization, minimizing the administrative burden of the HR department. Once an employee requests to update their attendance, the respective manager can approve the request, and the change will be reflected in the attendance record instantly.
2. Builds Employee Trust
Improving employee morale is an essential part of regularizing attendance. Using a simple and user-friendly online system for attendance regularization can make a significant difference. The purpose of streamlining processes is to demonstrate to employees that their concerns are valued and being addressed promptly.
3. Maintains Accountability
To promote a sense of trust in individual employees, companies should provide user-friendly ESS portals and mobile apps that enable them to track attendance and identify discrepancies instantly. HR should also develop clear policies on attendance and absenteeism to increase employee awareness and responsibility.
4. Monitors Payroll Accuracy
Payroll and attendance need to be integrated, as accurately paying employees requires regular workforce time tracking. By linking payroll software with an existing attendance system, manual or automated, the process becomes more reliable. However, for large companies, automating attendance streamlines payroll and also helps prevent errors and disputes.
5. Ensures Compliance
Complying with labor laws is the cornerstone of any payroll system. This cannot be accomplished without accurate attendance records. Mistakes in attendance can result in inaccurate records, leading to compliance issues and penalties.
Step-By-Step Attendance Regularization Process
Many essential processes, such as payroll, are based on accurate attendance management. For this reason, HR teams should be careful when an attendance correction request is submitted to them. There are a few simple steps to follow to ensure attendance discrepancies are handled tactfully.
1. Identifying Discrepancies
Those responsible for correcting attendance records should utilize every available tool at their disposal to identify and correct any errors. These errors could be due to:
- System failure
- Network issue
- Employee on emergency leave
- Missed punch
- Late or early clock-ins
- Overtime hours
2. Employee Raises Request (ESS/Mobile)
After the error is identified, the employees need to follow these steps to resolve the issue.
- Log in to the company’s ESS portal or mobile app.
- Fill out the attendance correction form with the correct information.
- Submit it to their respective managers or HR heads for resolution.
3. Validating Reasons
HR staff verifies the attendance records to cross-check the reason employees submitted for the correction request. For any emergency leave requests or medical leaves, they must collect the required documents from the employees. After the requests are thoroughly vetted, they are approved or rejected based on the verification provided.
4. Adjusting Records
Updating the changes in the existing record can be done based on the company’s system.
- Automated changes: Organizations using digital tools must approve attendance correction requests submitted by employees, and the system implements the changes. Depending on whether the system is integrated with other software, the updates are also reflected in the payroll records.
- Manual changes: If a company tracks attendance manually, the manager or HR head must verify requests, identify dates, and manually update the records.
5. Communicating with Employees
Effective communication has been proven to improve trust and openness in the workplace. For this reason, the HR team should communicate the changes made in the attendance records requested by the employees. This additional process shows the employees that their queries are important to the company, and any discrepancies will be answered instantly.
Conclusion
Tracking attendance is crucial for today’s workforce! Errors can occur, but with a well-organized system, companies can easily identify and address these issues. Attendance regularization maintains order while ensuring the company stays compliant with labor laws that protect the workforce.
Poor management of attendance records can harm employee morale. Organizations can look into HR automation to overcome the various challenges faced by multiple departments in maintaining accurate employee attendance records. When systems are interconnected and data transfers are straightforward, attendance correction should be performed..
Automating the attendance correction process reduces the administrative burden on the HR team. Businesses that need to upgrade their systems should implement HR software, such as factoHR, to improve efficiency and reduce errors in employee attendance management.
FAQs
What is the Reason for Regularization?
Attendance regularization implies correcting discrepancies in the existing attendance records due to various reasons. These reasons could be employees missing their punches, the biometric system having trouble, or network downtime. Sometimes, employees working in the field or from home can also experience attendance issues.
What is the Regularization Period?
There is no fixed period to regularize attendance, but it should be brought up within 2-3 days or a week, depending on the HR policies of a specific company. Most organizations prefer employees to submit attendance correction requests before the end of the month to ensure accurate payroll records.
How do I Write a Mail to HR for Attendance Regularization?
To request an attendance correction, you must send a formal email to the HR manager. This email should include the reason for missing the punch, the date on which this occurred, and the exact times that need to be altered. It is necessary to maintain a professional tone. Provide any required documents needed for verification within the email.
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