European court of justice ruling: six reasons why time recording is simply not enough

The European Court of Justice has handed down a ruling. In future, all member states are to oblige their employers to record the working hours of all employees. And this applies across all sectors and for companies of all sizes and industries. A decisive day indeed for companies and employees.

The outcry that the ruling is a step backwards and that yesteryears’ time clock should have no place in the 21st century was not long in coming. And indeed, there is some truth in this statement. After all, merely introducing a time recording system without taking a detailed, in-depth look at company processes would actually be a drop in the ocean and also represent a step backwards.

In our modern working world where the demands for flexibility on the part of both employers and employees are becoming increasingly vocal, simple time recording will not suffice. Instead, companies should rely on modern, digital workforce management including time recording. Why? Here are six reasons why a simple time recording system, whether manual, with Excel or systemic, is insufficient or simply under-dimensioned:

Streamlining processes

Automated working time and absence management solutions save time for employees, supervisors and the human resources department, while creating greater transparency at the same time. All the relevant information is available at a glance, and evaluations relevant to working hours are generated at the touch of a button. Instead of recording hours on time sheets, the system stores them digitally via time clock, telephone, PC or other media and can be viewed individually at any time. In this way, employees have a quick and convenient overview of their current working time balances, holiday accounts or overtime worked. And your HR department will be relieved of tiresome routine tasks.

Landscapes instead of islands

If you only introduce time recording in your company, you will be complying with the upcoming regulations as required by the ECJ. But you will soon notice that time recording alone is not enough. After all, employees' working hours must be processed according to individual parameters. The recorded times must therefore be processed manually by the personnel department and subsequently transferred to the payroll system. If this is performed in individual data silos by manual processing, this will not only result in increased effort and expenditures but also in high error rates. Thanks to digital workforce management, all the recorded time data are automatically processed and transferred to the payroll system.

Greater flexibility despite time recording

Even if you have location-independent employees or home office regulations, time recording will not be a problem for you and, above all, not a problem for your flexibility requirements. In this context, manual solutions quickly reach their limits. Via self services or employee portals, fast and convenient time recording is no problem. Employees can clock in and out from anywhere and always have an overview of their time management data – even when they are on the road.

Greater employee satisfaction

The automation of processes and greater transparency revolving around working time issues elevates employee satisfaction. And there are salient reasons for this. For one thing, employees are given more personal responsibility, as they are integrated into personnel processes and can influence the way their working hours are organized. This is difficult to achieve with manual processes.

If the workforce is also integrated into the planning processes, for example through shift requests or exchange platforms, work-life balance is enhanced. As employees become more productive and motivated, loyalty to the company grows automatically.

A future-savy investment

The consistent collection and evaluation of personnel information is proving difficult in many companies. Without system support and consistent data collection, analyses and reports often have to be created manually, incurring considerable expense and input. Thanks to digital workforce management, evaluations of time accounts, absences, reasons for absences, sales per employee, productivity of specific units or cost centers can be generated quickly and easily at the push of a button. This creates the necessary transparency for management decisions.

Always legally compliant

If personnel processes are not automated, legal problems regarding data protection may well arise. The Basic Data Protection Ordinance (DSGVO) stipulates strict documentation and verification obligations, stringent reporting requirements and fines in the case of violations.

This presents companies with major challenges and high processing input. A professional workforce management solution manages employee data securely and in compliance with the law as well as warning in the event of possible violations of laws, tariffs and company-specific regulations. What is more, any documentation that may be required is conveniently created by mouse click.

The conclusion: Digital workforce management extends far beyond simple time recording, as it creates agile organizations and processes. The solution taps potentials along the entire value chain and ensures greater employee satisfaction and productivity. Efforts and input are reduced where it makes sense, thereby creating scope for value-adding activities. In a nutshell: The decision for digital workforce management is a decision for the future. Both companies and employees will stand to benefit.