Remote Working: Here’s How You Can Manage Employees Time and Attendance
Remote working has been the norm ever since the pandemic took its toll. With remote working, a company can hire different professionals worldwide, and there is no need to worry about commuter delays, logistics, and responsibilities at home. Some firms have perfected the art of managing a workforce working remotely.
For such corporations to manage the employee’s time and attendance well, they had to implement different staff policies and guidelines. If you want your team to work remotely, you should adhere to the following guidelines:
The Work Hours Should be Well Structured
If an employee is working remotely, they should be accorded the chance to set the hours they prefer working; this should be the norm regardless of whether they have a flexible work schedule.
By ensuring the employees have structured the working hours well, they can start working on time, and they’ll also check out of work at the right time. The structured schedule ensures you can manage the remote team without the need to worry about whether the employees are already working or not.
When the employee has structured the work hours well, they can ensure there is a balance between their personal life and work. The management team should not task the employees with handling ant tasks after the work hours have come to an end.
For the teams that have mixed schedules, in that there are shift workers, you should take time to learn more about employee scheduling. Eventually, you’ll get to understand schedule management in a better manner.
Equipment Requirements
As the employees work remotely, they’ll need access to different types of equipment. By providing the necessary equipment, the employees will be more productive.
The main equipment needed includes a mouse, laptop, headphones, and coffee allowance if need be. When the employees are provided with each of these resources, they’ll handle their tasks more efficiently.
You might think of designating a certain amount of funds for the remote workforce such that they can rent a desk present at one of the coworking places close to your home such that each employee will have a dedicated space where they can work with minimal distractions.
Manage Employees Time: Ensure there is a Work from Home Policy
The management team should ensure the work from home policy is airtight. They should ensure that all the employees understand the policies to know what is expected of them. Ensure that nothing is open-ended when formulating the policies.
The work from the home policy should cover the following:
Work Hours: you should outline the number of hours you expect the remote employees to dedicate to work. The average working time in a day is at least eight hours. If an employee works for more hours than expected, they’re eligible for compensatory days off.
Violations: Ensure the employees understand what comprises violating the work from home policy. For starters, specify the number of hours the employee is supposed to dedicate to work. They should also adhere to deadlines.
Eligibility: If the team is not fully remote, ensure there are guidelines to outline the specific employees eligible for remote work. In such an instance, the employees from other cities can work remotely. Employees with health restrictions should also be put into consideration.
Equipment Issued: enlighten the remote employees about the equipment they shall be paying for, including a laptop, camera, phone, among other devices.
Benefits and Perks: ensure you’re conversant with the benefits that the employees are accustomed to such that they’ll be more productive while working remotely. For example, the employees can be accorded a budget that will allow them t decorate their home office. The main focus is on boosting productivity and managing employees’ time.
Leave and Absence Management
You should ensure that each employee is conversant with what the leave policy looks like for the remote team. The first step involves setting the leave policy if it’s not available.
As you set up the policy, take into account that leave laws vary from one nation to another. Such a consideration is meant for global firms.
The leave management dashboard should outline such details. Using time off management software you can manage employee absence requests easily.
Ensure there is Time for Tracking
You can ensure there is a time tracking app such that each employee will have to adhere to the work schedule that has been put in place for time and attendance.
The application records the time the employee reported for work and the end of the workday. Considering the employees are working remotely, it is hard to determine whether they are working. Fortunately, the remote team will be accountable for the time tracking apps.
Manage employees time: final thoughts
Besides adhering to the guidelines outlined above, you should also consider the employees’ communication channels. For instance, the employees can communicate through only email. It is advisable to ensure issues such as over-communicating don’t come about. Miscommunication should also be avoided at all costs.
