Many of us still remember those punch clocks that our parents used to punch in and out of work, these machines were planned to keep an eye on the time employees spent and hopefully worked at the work place.

For many years, companies have relied on employee time clocks to accurately record how many hours are worked by each employee every week. Even though clocks have changed, these companies need to have some type of system that they can use to create payroll and ensure employees are getting paid for each hour worked. Employees these days use cards that they swipe along a slot, which reads their name and records the time they clocked in. Employees must also clock out each day the same way.

After the pay week is over, the central computer system tallies every employee’s hours and prints them out on a spreadsheet. This makes the payroll process efficient and rids much human error. The employee time clock is something that has been tied to the factory and to productiveness, it is very surprising to learn that a lot of workers during the years have tried to find creative ways of using the time clock to their advantage, it is even more surprising to understand how much time and effort was spent into making sure that the time clock was always one step ahead and that company rules made absolutely sure that no one even thought of messing with it.

The employee time clock is usually located near a main entrance or break room area. Employees who do not get paid for lunch breaks must clock out during lunchtime. It is against any companies policy to use another employees time card or to clock in or out for them. This type of behavior usually results in both employees being fired. It is considered fraud to use another person’s time card.

The employee clock is a time saver in that payroll hours are automatically added up by the computer system. This is not to say the machines are perfect. Sometimes the magnetic stripe on the machine or the card does not work properly, so an employee’s time will not be recorded. Other times an employee might forget to clock in after lunch. These errors will need to be fixed in the computer system.

The employee clock will also be around for payroll needs. Even though there have been advancements made to make the clock more efficient, the principle of the employee clock will not change. Hourly employees need a way to keep track of their time. Companies need logical ways to record and monitor an employees time to ensure they are putting in the hours they need to continue being a productive employee.

With the development of computer software and better time clocks the old fashioned time clock slowly disappears from our lives, but new and better tools are added daily to ensure employees time is well spent.

John Furnem is a dot com veteran, specializing in personality psychology he has written articles and held seminars for stress management & Work Life Balance. John currently writes articles on Emplyee Time Clock for a content site.

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