Things You Need To Know About Buddy Punching And How To Put An End To It

2023/06/26

It starts out as a small favor for a friend.

Then it becomes fraudulently habitual and excessive.

She can’t come to work on time and she sends you a message to kindly punch in her timecard to clock in for her.

Or perhaps there is an emergency and she needs to go out a few hours early without any intention of informing the boss. 

Attendance — including clocking in and out of employees — is a mission-critical aspect in making payroll.

That is why there have been cases of buddy punching when employees attempt to skirt around this requirement. 

Have you ever done this for someone whose excuse for tardiness appears innocent?

If you have, then you are guilty of buddy punching for your friend!

Do you know that it is a dishonest act with serious long-term consequences?

This has been an unrelenting concern for most HRs. Solution?

Only an online HR software can prevent this deceptive act. 

A few minutes here and there may seem to be negligible but when you add it all up, the employer loses a lot of money with all these “no-work” hours being wasted away.

Unnecessary costs mainly means waste of the company’s resources and sad to say, leads to unproductivity and loss. 

Things You Need To Know About Buddy Punching

Know this.

Buddy punching occurs when one employee portrays to actively work complying with the company’s time and attendance monitoring without rendering actual service. 

Asking another to clock in on their behalf is utterly disgusting.

Running late for work, perhaps ducking out early or extended lunch breaks are the most common. 

Though one may appear to get away with buddy punching, there will always be reckoning for every misdemeanor.

Ultimately, buddy punching is fraudulent and it is theft.

Because an employee receives pay without actually working.

It is any Human Resource Department’s goal to cultivate positive workplace behavior and in so doing, promote a healthy and productive workforce for  the company.

With a dependable time and attendance system provided by an online HR software, HR can put an end to this fraudulent act. 


The Impact of Buddy Punching 

How can buddy punching affect the employees and impact the business in general?

Just like other employee actions and behavior, this act can greatly affect the business in the following ways: 

  1. Decreased Productivity

    – How can productivity be measured?
    At first glance, it could be through the number of hours spent at work and the work or results generated from it.
    It could also be the quality of work done and the number or tasks accomplished at a given time.
    With habitual buddy punching, there is no accurate gauge of the employee’s performance and productivity over time because of the difference between the artificial versus the actual time spent at work.
    Buddy punching decreases productivity and hampers the ability to complete tasks on time.
  1. Poor Work Performance

    – Decreased productivity is congruent to poor work performance.
    Period.
    Employees who cheat are not focused.
    They are inefficient and unproductive in the workplace.
  1. Wasted payroll

    – Buddy punching costs employers.
    Paying an employee for more time than the employee actually renders will naturally impact negatively on the finances of the company.
    This puts a strain on the company’s resources.
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How to Prevent Buddy Punching

Employers work smart.

They don’t want to be short-changed at all.

They can prevent work inefficiencies and fraud with a better and more systematic online HR software.

The HR department wants to maximize every opportunity to help grow the business.

Eliminate buddy punching and time theft with these:

POLICY.

Stick to a policy regarding time and attendance and regulations against time fraud and buddy punching.

Clearly outline the implications of the act when caught.

Establish concise disciplinary actions against this.

Make everything official in the employee handbook regarding the company not turning a blind eye on dishonesty.

COMPANY CULTURE.

Create a positive company culture.

This can help minimize time theft.

When employees feel valued and appreciated, chances are they are bound to excel and not commit fraud.

TIMEKEEPING.

Is your timekeeping serving your business well enough?

Is your time and attendance monitor up-to-date?

Where does your  existing system stand right now?

Is it already obsolete?

Timekeeping is an absolute necessity.

Evaluate your system. 

TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE.

Punching in and out may be a thing of the past.

It might be a good time now to upgrade to a more advanced time and attendance technology.

There are biometrics options, QR codes and geo-location tracking, geo-fencing and GPS based trackers that are available. 

BIOMETRICS.

This could still be under technology but for now, it is separate since it is a system that is significant, effective and can be a downright solution to buddy punching practices.

In fact, most companies are already utilizing biometrics. 

Face, fingerprint, hand or iris scans are options for synchronizing time clocks to an employee and they are becoming more usable, practical and popular these days.

While all these can be effective, biometrics usually require a certain kind of online HR software in addition to the biometrics equipment.

Here are some examples of biometrics security applications to counter buddy punching: Voice Recognition, Fingerprint Scanning, Facial Recognition, Iris Recognition and Heart-Rate Sensors.

While all these applications may be effective, systems usually require a synergized online HR software in addition to the equipment itself.

Logging in and out of an office, recording time and attendance, tardiness and absences and most of all, keeping the company away from buddy punching is no longer a challenge for the Human Resources department. 

HR budding punching and time fraud concerns?

No problem?

EasyHR offers automation in all HR tasks including time and attendance, payroll, loan management, leave management, employee portal, overtime and tardiness computation.

Stop.

Put an end to buddy punching and time theft with EasyHR.

For more details, send us a message, https://human-incubator.com/easy-hr/.

EasyHR Logo

Automate your payroll processing with easyHR’s cloud-based software solution

Click to Learn More.
EasyHR Logo

Automate your payroll processing with easyHR’s cloud-based software solution

Click to Learn More.

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