Keeping track of employee comings and goings can be one of the biggest challenges for large and small businesses alike. While many companies have already moved on from traditional time and attendance trackers like timecards and Excel spreadsheets, even digital time-tracking tools can have their limitations.
A cloud-based leave and attendance management system like Pulpstream can provide all of the functionality you need under a single umbrella, reducing the workload for your human resources team while also improving employee satisfaction.
Here’s how leave and attendance management software can help you streamline HR workflows, reduce data silos, and enforce your leave of absence policy fairly.
What Does a Leave and Attendance Management System Do?
Attendance and absences are two sides of the same coin. The number of work hours an employee puts in contributes to their accrued sick leave or personal leave balance, and the amount of time they take off work determines how much unpaid leave or paid time off (PTO) they have remaining.
A leave and attendance management system keeps track of it all in a centralized place for easy visibility and streamlined HR compliance.
Here are five components of leave and attendance management:
- Employee attendance tracking involves keeping track of the days and hours that an employee actually works. Traditionally, employees clock in when they arrive at a workplace, but in an age of remote work, some time-tracking tools offer geographic or biometric features to verify identity or location.
- Leave management, or leave of absence management, involves assessing, responding to, and tracking an employee’s leave of absence request. There are several different types of leave, including family and medical leave, which can determine how much time an employee is allowed to take off.
- Absence management involves tracking approved leave, as well as unplanned or unapproved employee absences. Absence tracking software can help you identify patterns of absenteeism and improve employee attendance.
- Scheduling refers to the process of allocating work hours and vacation time across your team, ensuring that you maintain sufficient staffing levels while allowing your employees to access their LoA and PTO benefits.
- Payroll processing plays a larger role in leave and attendance management than it might appear. The most effective attendance management tools integrate with payroll software so you can easily verify timesheets for accuracy and track leave accruals in your payroll system.
Some of these features may be offered as standalone tools or part of a comprehensive system. There’s a lot of overlap between these use cases, so pay less attention to what your leave management system is called than what it can do for your workflows.
Benefits of an Automated Leave Management System
Digitizing your leave management system isn’t just about keeping up with the times: It also presents opportunities for HR automation. Here are three key benefits of a leave and attendance management system that you just can’t get with analog tools.
Streamline HR processes
Leave management software saves time and money by streamlining workflows so you don’t have to spend as much time on tedious, time-consuming tasks. Leave of absence automation can turn leave management from an 8-hour process into a 15-minute task.
With a modern leave and attendance tracking system, you can implement consistent employee leave policies and make life easier for your HR management team.
Improve the employee experience
It’s pivotal that employees understand your company’s leave and attendance policies and know how to request leave when they need it. Respect your employees’ time by providing a seamless user experience instead of a convoluted LoA process.
Use onboarding automation to introduce your company policies up-front, and use a self-service portal to guide them through the LoA process in real-time.
Ensure regulatory compliance
Labor laws can be complex, especially if your company spans multiple states or has employees in multiple jurisdictions. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and state leave laws may all be in play.
Using a centralized leave management system reduces human error and helps you avoid compliance issues under state and federal law.
Key Features of Leave and Attendance Management Tools
What sort of functionality should you look for in a leave management system? While the answer will vary depending on the size of your company and the specific needs of your workplace, here are a few key features to prioritize.
Self-service portal
A self-service portal is like the equivalent of online banking for your workforce. Instead of having to call up your HR department for everyday tasks, an employee self-service portal makes it easy for team members to resolve simple issues independently.
From tracking FMLA leave balances, to updating bank details in your payroll system, employee self-service saves time and reduces employee relations issues.
Mobile app
Imagine HR managers being able to review an employee’s leave request on the go, or getting a notification when new documentation has been uploaded. A mobile app can make your absence management system even more user-friendly.
Some leave and attendance management systems support tracking attendance using mobile devices — perfect for teams that rely on field work. Pulpstream’s geolocation features are also useful for audits and inspections and incident management.
Customizable rule engine
It can be hard for your HR team to keep track of every type of leave, especially when many states introduce new leave laws every year. A rule engine helps you run each request by the latest employment laws to assess eligibility requirements.
Pulpstream’s customizable rule engine allows you to configure your LoA process for various types of leave and automate approvals for simple leave requests.
Real-time calendar
Time-off requests can range from a continuous leave of absence, such as a sabbatical, to intermittent leave for personal or medical reasons. Your leave management system should include a calendar view that allows team members to easily review their work schedule, manage vacation time, and set their availability.
Remember to set roles and permissions to protect employees’ privacy. Avoid disclosing information about an employee’s sick leave or medical leave, which may violate FMLA confidentiality rules.
Reporting dashboard
Finally, a reporting dashboard helps you make sense of all of the attendance data in your leave management system, in the form of intuitive attendance reports. Look for patterns of absenteeism that may signal employee engagement issues, and review excessive leave requests for signs of FMLA abuse.
Pulpstream’s HR data analytics tools can also help with workforce management by allowing you to prepare for absences and adjust staffing levels in advance.
Simplify Leave and Attendance Management with Pulpstream
Leave and attendance management software integrates many of the tools you need for effective workforce management, including time tracking and scheduling. Some digital attendance trackers offer advanced functionality, like biometric check-ins, while other systems focus on HR data analytics and workforce planning.
Your attendance tracker should also integrate with your payroll management system, allowing you to quickly approve timesheets and track accrued leave balances.
Pulpstream’s all-in-one platform helps you centralize your operations in one intuitive, cloud-based portal. Our no-code interface means you can create custom workflows without any coding knowledge, while our self-service portal gives employees more insight into their employee benefits and mandatory leave entitlements.
Request a demo to see how Pulpstream can help you take control of your processes and provide a better experience for your employees and HR team.
