Time clocks in particular and attendance systems in general, are an employer’s method of ensuring that its employees are at work. After all, an employer is investing a good amount of money in an employee’s work, so it is in the company’s best interest to make sure its employees are working. Attendance systems are also for your benefit, though—when an employee knows how much you work, it knows the amount of wages due you.

Time clocks and other attendance systems are designed to provide useful and accurate information regarding employee work. In this way, employers avoid the hassle of making schedules and notes on random pieces of paper and instead have an orderly system for keeping track of employee attendance. Attendance information is vital to company records and payroll; it also enables the company to stay in compliance with federal labor laws regarding minimum wages, maximum work week, and overtime pay.

In addition, the information provided by a time clock is useful for tracking purposes when combined with data on company productivity. In this way, problem areas and successful areas in your company become apparent. For example, if two workers are shown to work the same amount of time, the gap in their productivity comes to light. Consequently, attendance systems may help you determine which areas of your company need more motivation or more resources directed to them.

In a perfect world, time clocks might not be necessary, but in many cases, employees may give themselves credit for time during which they were not actually working. Whether this poor reporting is accidental or purposeful, attendance systems attempt to eliminate this time theft in order to save the company money and to pay employees appropriately.