In some companies, Workers prepare their own time tickets for approval by the supervisor; in other companies, a supervisor prepares them. In still others, the timekeepers and supervisors have desks near the work stations. When changing jobs, employees report to the timekeeper and then get a new assignment and instructions from the supervisor. A smooth shift from one job to another is thereby achieved, with time reports entered by the timekeeper and approved by the supervisor.
The total time reported on all of a worker's time tickets is compared with the total hours on that worker's clock card. If the clock card is correct but shows more hours than the time tickets, the difference is reported as idle time. If the time tickets show more hours than the clock card and the clock card is correct,the error is corrected in consultation with the supervisor and worker.
Accuracy in reporting time varies from company to company, but in most situations a report to the exact minute is neither necessary nor practical. Many companies find it advantageous to use a decimal system, which divides the hour into ten periods of six minutes each.
Under a decimal system, a job started at 9:23 am. and finished at 11:38 a.m. is reported as 9.4 and 1.6, With an elapsed time of 2.2 hours. The timekeeping task is simplified if all of a worker's time is related to a single job or is charged to a single process or department.
Bar-Coding Technology. Computerized on-site data entry for both clock cards and
time tickets can be achieved by bar coding. Bar codes are symbols processed electronically to identify numbers, letters, or other characters. In manufacturing and service industries, perhaps no technical development has shown greater potential for improving efficiency and accuracy than bar coding for computerized data entry. This technology helps internal accounting systems provide timely, accurate, and relevant information.
Bar-coded employee identification cards or badges replace clock cards and time tickets to collect payroll data and to measure the activity of workers and machines. If another bar coded label or tag is attached to each job and posted in each department, then charges for labor cost are automated as well. The worker uses the personal card or or badge to clock in and out at the beginning and end of the work day. When beginning or ending
a task, a worker scans the personal card or badge and then scans one or more of the bar-coded labels or tags that identify the correct job or department.