The challenge
More efficient processes. Accurately reflect policies. More transparency.
Before TimeTac was introduced at avedos, working hours were recorded in Excel. The time records were submitted by employees to the HR department at the end of each month. This method did not provide Human Resources and team leaders with ongoing insight into employees’ time records. In addition, no automated processes were possible with this form of time recording.
Leave management was also time-consuming and inefficient: before TimeTac was introduced, leave requests were submitted on paper. Employees had to fill out the request, print it, have it signed by their manager, and then submit it to the HR department. At times, it happened that the designated leave cover was absent during the same period, meaning no cover was available. Absence times also had to be entered later by the employee themselves in the timesheet.
Iris Rauh, Human Resources: “We recorded leave days in a separate Excel sheet. Employees had no insight into the current status of their leave days and could only ask the HR department or calculate it themselves. Evaluations of working time balances and leave days as a basis for HR provisions could only be done manually and were therefore only possible to a very limited extent.”
The solution
Modern time tracking and absence management
The decisive factor for avedos in purchasing a time tracking solution was the introduction of a new flexitime policy. As part of this change, avedos decided to switch time tracking and leave management to a more modern time tracking system in order to accurately map and comply with all policies, make processes more efficient, and generate reports automatically.
“Many steps that previously had to be done manually are now handled automatically by the system,” says Iris Rauh from avedos.
Easy handling, intuitive operation, clear user interface
Working hours should be easy for employees to record, and leave days should be easy to request. That is why avedos chose TimeTac time tracking and leave management with PC and mobile app. Thanks to the web-based software, employees can use time tracking regardless of time and location, and the data can be viewed at any time by the respective employee as well as by managers.
Employees record clock-in, clock-out, breaks, leave and other absence times with a click. Paid absences such as travel time, doctor’s appointments and visits to public authorities can also be easily recorded with TimeTac and correctly taken into account in the timesheet.
Mapping and compliance with all working time rules and all framework conditions
TimeTac offers numerous preconfigured working time models as templates that can be assigned to an employee and defined or adjusted accordingly. TimeTac enables avedos to change weekly hours flexibly and easily for employees, and also to define overtime and allowances for each employee in user management. In the timesheet, overtime flat rates and allowances are then automatically taken into account and calculated by TimeTac for each employee in accordance with the presettings.
If maximum limits for daily and weekly working hours are not complied with or employees exceed rest periods, the employees concerned and the managers responsible for them automatically receive a warning about the exceedance in the TimeTac timesheet. For avedos, TimeTac set up an email notification for managers that is automatically triggered when the working time balance reaches the upper limit.
Responsibilities and deputies
To correctly assign requests, such as leave requests or changes to time entries, TimeTac offers the option of defining responsibilities and deputies within each department for cases of absence.
At avedos, employees must select a deputy for absences of one day or more to ensure cover. Therefore, TimeTac was configured for avedos so that an employee must specify a deputy when requesting an absence before it can be processed.
More efficient processing of absence requests – across multiple approval levels
With TimeTac leave management, absences can be handled easily. Instead of submitting the request in person on paper to HR, as in the past, and collecting various signatures, employees can now request leave from anywhere with a mouse click or via the mobile app.
avedos had a two-stage approval workflow for leave approval activated in TimeTac. This means that once the responsible manager has approved an employee’s request, it is automatically forwarded to a higher-level manager. Only after the second approval is the request accepted and visible in TimeTac to all authorised users.
The responsible managers receive the requests to be processed in TimeTac’s request management. In addition, avedos had TimeTac activate a reminder via email notification to the manager.
Clear annual and department calendars in TimeTac also support avedos with leave planning. All absences are automatically transferred to the timesheet.
Automated reports – reduced administrative effort – overview
At TimeTac, the calculation of attendance and absence times is carried out automatically once all specifications have been set in the software. This makes administration easier for avedos: evaluations of working time balances can be used quickly and reliably as a basis for payroll accounting and also for a wide range of employee reports. The correct evaluation of leave days serves avedos primarily as a basis for HR provisions.
The TimeTac timesheet provides a clear list of an employee’s recorded times. In addition to the recorded attendance and absence times, the working time model assigned to the employee in user management is used for the automatic calculation of additional work, overtime and missing times.
All employees have ongoing access to their timesheet. A predefined approval mode makes it easier for avedos to finalise timesheets by employees and managers. To make submission easier, avedos had TimeTac set up a reminder email in case employees’ timesheets are not completed on time.
In addition to time evaluations per employee or an entire department, TimeTac can be used to create employee and leave evaluations for one or more employees with just a few clicks. These evaluate employees’ recorded working time and absences for an individual period.
The wide range of reporting options helps avedos provide the necessary data as a basis for HR provisions or various decisions, and to review the effectiveness of HR measures relating to working hours and absences.
Transparency for employees, managers, HR
With TimeTac, all avedos employees have insight into their leave day balance and their personal working time balance. All managers and HR have more insight and overview of relevant data with TimeTac – at any time and from anywhere – enabling faster responses.
The result
Iris Rauh: “With TimeTac, we have simplified processes and reduced administrative effort. Our employees have more time to focus on our customers and our product. TimeTac helps us maintain a good work-life balance.”
