Time and Attendance (T&A) System is a process that tracks and manages employees’ check-in and check-out time, meal time, vacations, and absences. Traditional time and attendance system was based on manual recording process, where employees recorded their time and schedule information on various manual recording devices from paper, punch cards or computers. The data gathered from such record then would be processed by managers and salaries were calculated based on such information. The process is deemed very inefficient due to large amount of time it took for manager to process such data. Furthermore, such process suffered from inaccuracy and lack of reliability from data input errors, calculation errors or scamming activities that arise from using human resources.

The implementation of automated time and attendance system will resolve previously mentioned issues by greatly reducing errors that may occur during collection and calculation stages. The automated time and attendance system will allow for simpler management of workforce as they can be easily grouped and attendance rules such as work hours, breaks, absences, meal-time, etc. can be applied accordingly. Furthermore, reports can be generated on demand as processing and calculation of such data is done automatically.

A T&A system’s largest threat is ‘buddy punching’, which means another person records time for a person. Workforce waste, overpaid payroll, and cheating clock is increasing annually across the globe because of buddy punching. Buddy punching means that a fellow employee records time in place of the actual employee, and an ordinary time and attendance system which uses credentials such as cards, PIN, or passwords cannot prevent buddy punching because credentials can be shared. In example, let us say that Tom and John are good friends at work. John can register a check-in time for John who is late for work, or John can register a check-out time for Tom who left work early without meeting the regulated work hours.

If a T&A system combined with biometrics technology is utilized, efficient management is possible, incorporating benefits of preventing buddy punching and the benefit of additional decrease in costs. Furthermore, it has superior security than card, FoB, PIN, and passwords. Biostar 2 linked with Suprema’s latest fingerprint recognition devices allows you to efficiently and professionally manage an organization’s human resources. You can also prevent authorization with forged fingerprints if you utilize the Live Finger Detection (LFD) feature mounted on Suprema’s latest fingerprint recognition devices.

BioStar 2’s time and attendance management system consists elements of Pay Code, Shift, Schedule, Schedule Template, and Overtime Rule. The Time Card and Report features can be used to edit or print out individual time and attendance records as reports.

Structure-wise, BioStar 2 T&A and BioStar 1 T&A may look similar. However, BioStar 2 T&A simplified the complicated configuration of BioStar 1 T&A and increased the flexibility of the functions to allow diverse configurations.

Pay Code is the configuration of Type and Time Rate. The available Pay Code types are Attendance Management, Overtime Management, and Leave Management. The Time Rate can be configured between 0 and 10. Examples of Type and Time Rate applications are as follows:

• Configuring the Type as Attendance Management and Time Rate as 1: This pay code will be used to calculate the regular work time. Since the time rate has been set to 1, the work time will be calculated as one hour if an employee works one hour.

• Configuring the Type as Overtime Management and Time Rate as 2: This pay code will be used to calculate the overtime work hour. Since the time rate has been set to 2, the work time will be calculated as two hours if an employee works one hour.

• Configuring the Type as Leave Management, Option as Worked, and Time Rate as 0.5: This pay code will be used for to calculate leave management in cases of vacations, working outside of office, sick days, and etc. Since the time rate has been set to 0.5, the work time will be calculated as 0.5 hours if an employee works one hour.

Furthermore, you can select colors to easily distinguish the Pay Codes.

Shift is the configuration of one day’s (24 hours) work rules. You can configure the rules’ specific details such as work type (Fixed / Flexible), work start time, Pay Code’s time segment, Rounding (Shift, Punch in, Punch out), Grace, and Meal Deduction. The Pay Code has to be configured prior to configure the Shift.

• Work Type (Fixed, Flexible)–BioStar 2 supports two work types. If the work type is configured as set as Fixed, employees have to check-in and check-out at established times. If the work type is configured as Flexible, employees are free to choose their own check-in and check-out time for work each day and this work Type can be changed with a single click.
• Automatic Meal Deduction–A complicated design of different Pay Code or Time Segment is unnecessary for meal time because of this feature. If the Automatic Meal Deduction is checked on, configuration for a meal time can be completed with a few clicks.
• Break by Punch–You can track how employees use their entire break time each day. Employees have to register break start / break end event with a T&A device for their break and the administrator can see this record through the Time Card or Report in a single glance.
  

The Schedule Template is the configuration of repeated Shift cycles. Cycles can be configured in daily or weekly. The Shift has to be configured beforehand to configure the Schedule Template.

Rule can be helpful configuring Shifts when overtime is not applied. Normally, the Overtime Pay Code has to be configured first, then time segments for each Overtime Pay Code has to be individually configured to configure overtime. However, this method does not allow complicated overtime configuration. Rules can configure overtime with contextual visibility by configuring time rules and allows easy implementation of complicated Shifts. In example, if two Overtime Pay Code of A and B needs to be implemented, you can configure a flow such as “After 8 hours, apply → overtime of 3 hours then apply overtime B → limit to max overtime of 5 hours.”

Schedule allows structuring of a work schedule by designating Schedule template, period, holiday, and users. To configure a Schedule, the Pay Code, Shift, and Schedule Template has to be configured beforehand and user and holiday information configured in the BioStar 2 AC module are required as well.

This is a function that allows a detailed overview and editing of individual time and attendance records.

This is a function that can generate reports about user time and attendance events that were captured through the time and attendance management system.

BioStar 2’s T&A System is not merely an employee Check-in and Check-out tracking system. Work, Break, Meal, Leave type and times which are related to employee payroll can also be tracked. Furthermore, time and attendance records edited by the administrator can be seen in a single glance.

Pay code, which is the core element of the Shift, can be created unlimitedly in BioStar 2’s T&A System. All policies of the company can be supported by combining Pay Code Type, Time Rate, and Option (Worked, Not Worked). 

Overtime policies differ by each company and hence the administrator can face difficulties configuring the Shift. An Overtime Rule is applied to a Shift, not a Pay Code, which leads to flexibility in applying diverse overtime rules of a company. The overtime rule can be generated based on the flow of time by using the Overtime Pay Code, and daily, weekly, monthly, weekend, and holiday rules can be configured and managed effortlessly.

BioStar 2’s T&A System supports easy Flexible Work configuration. Flexible Work shift can be applied to user or user groups with a few clicks after Pay Codes with Attendance Type are configured.

With BioStar 2 T&A System’s Time Card, the Daily work hours, used Shift names, normal working hours, exceptions, absences, and holiday states that affect employee schedule and salary can be seen in a single glance. This helps the administrator to efficiently manage employees. Furthermore, each user’s punch records can be edited and absences can be registered to allow simple processing of exceptions. 

BioStar 2’s function can be divided into access control and time and attendance management, and these functions are managed by the AC module and TA module respectively. These two modules have their own configuration information, but the User, User Group, and Device information can be shared with both the AC and TA module. Furthermore, the User Group and Schedule setting can be checked in the Time Card and it is displayed in the same hierarchical structure that was configured in the AC module, providing consistent information to the administrator.

Device information that is registered to BioStar 2 is shared and can be used by both the AC and T&A module. This may influence the device’s functionality, beyond simply sharing device information. The T&A module can designate the AC module’s time and attendance device, and therefore the device may execute different functions based on the registered module. For example, if a device is registered only on the AC module, it can be used as an access control device, and if it is set as a time and attendance recording device in the T&A module, it can be used as an access control + time and attendance device. This module-based function allows the administrator to manage the device more easily.