A new EU judgment imposes all employers an obligation to ensure that the duration of time worked each day by each worker is reported.

A new EU judgment imposes all employers an obligation to introduce an ‘objective, reliable and accessible system’ enabling the duration of time worked each day by each worker to be measured. Therefore, the obligation not only applies to hourly employees, but also to salaried employees and other types of employees.

It is now up to the individual EU member states to decide how it is implemented in national legislation. We will follow the development and return with more information whenever we know more about the implications.

However, the judgment raises concerns in several places. Because isn’t time & attendance registration a bit old-fashioned? And an expression of lack of confidence?

Not at all! Many companies have already seen the value of investing in a time & attendance system, as this gives both company and employee numerous advantages:

• Helps ensure the necessary rest time (e.g. 11-hour rule) and that the maximum average number of working hours per week for workers is not exceeded. I.e. help to comply with applicable labour market rules, collective agreements and internal personnel policies – without manual monitoring and calculation
• Ensures each employee the correct salary and provides transparency in payroll, flexitime and overtime as well as accrued and spent holidays. Thus, the company can avoid errors in payslips, which is also a widespread problem
• Provides an overview of absence and thus the opportunity to optimise the internal absence processes, so that absence talks and other relevant follow-up takes place at the right times.
• Supports proper holiday management both in terms of accruing, spending and possibly transferring holiday to the new holiday year

And if you choose an advanced workforce management solution, there are additional benefits:

• It provides an overview of time spent on projects and in production and provides accurate data in relation to planning, financial follow-up and optimisation
• Simplifies employee scheduling, supports efficient use of employee resources and minimises overtime

With the technological developments, there are several modern user interfaces that make it easy to collect information about time & attendance as well as absence. The old punch-clock is replaced by user-friendly web portals, terminals on PC/tablet or apps for smartphones. There are user interfaces for every need, so the company can choose the solution that makes the most sense and greatest flexibility and benefit for both company and employees.