Prior to COVID-19, employee under-payment was thrust into the spotlight through the media coverage of several high-profile organisations who failed to record and pay their staff appropriately.
Embarrassing … but also illegal.
Since then, new legislation requires employers to keep time and attendance and pay records of employees for a minimum of seven years. An onerous task for many.
Just as businesses get used to the tightening of rules around payroll, COVID-19 enters our world.
And a new compliance requirement has emerged – which includes a workplace health and safety obligation to minimise the risk of employee infection in the workplace.
Employers are now responsible for preventing COVID-19 transmission in the workplace with the same responsibilities and liabilities as any other job hazard.
And these responsibilities extend to the ‘work-from-home’ environment.
All of this is prompting many organisations to throw their existing time and attendance and payroll solutions up in the air for a good, healthy rethink.
Technology a touchstone for automating
“70% of businesses still use paper time sheets”, says Martin Frappell, Director of Sydney-based Pay Cat, “and within a tightening compliance environment, that is a very low bar which is creating a sense of urgency in the C-suite.”
Pay Cat is one of several leading payroll partners using the NoahFace touchless system for their clients.
“A big advantage is that NoahFace seamlessly integrates into many payroll platforms, and it captures annual wages reliably – a huge benefit for compliance” says Frappell.
But Frappell says that the next question he hears from a customer is, “can it open doors?”
Once they know that this is a key feature of NoahFace, they are sold.
Ross Heron, CEO of Payroll HQ says, “the move to touchless fits with our focus on health and well-being. With fatigue management and COVID-19, NoahFace allows us to add safety questions to the screen”.
“Plus, we’ve got something secure in an iPad, scanning individuals’ points on their face to authenticate their identity, thereby avoiding fraud and buddy clocking” adds Heron.
New cost-effective technologies like this have made it easier for organisations to navigate and adapt quickly to a tightening compliance environment.
And should the worst happen, full event logging provides a complete audit trail – exactly what the Boardroom would expect.
Perhaps it’s time to rethink your own approach to time and attendance, in the context of your employees, their safety, and your organisation’s responsibilities.
A holistic solution like NoahFace would be a good starting point to creating your own safe work ‘bubble’.
In 2015 café owner Geoff Cropley came to the realisation that his business would run a lot smoother and he’d have a better relationship with his customers if he could remember their names and orders. You know what it’s like. You walk into your favourite café and they know your order. It makes the experience even better if they remember your name. As a customer you feel engaged and appreciated and are more likely to be loyal.
After scouring the world for a system that would work for his business, Geoff realized that using facial recognition technology would be the perfect solution. The problem was, such a system didn’t exist. So, instead of giving up, Geoff invented it. After 18 months of prototyping and stress testing in a real-life environment, and seeing large improvements in customer loyalty and profitability in his business, Noah Facial Recognition Pty Ltd was launched.
