Manual Time Tracking

What Is Manual Time Tracking?

Manual time tracking is a conventional process of time and attendance recording. It involves keeping track of employees’ working hours, including short breaks and days off, using manual or electronic tools, but without the involvement of any automated online attendance management system. Employees log their hours worked, review them, and then get approved. The processing of that data to other systems for record-keeping or payroll processing falls on their team leaders or HR managers.

Key Characteristics of Manual Time Tracking

Manual time tracking typically uses paper forms or spreadsheets. The employees are accountable for filling out timesheets and noting the actual hours worked. These are subsequently verified and approved by managers. Since it uses human input, there is a potential for errors that might result in inaccuracy and discrepancy in the record. Also, it tends to be time-consuming and uses up more valuable resources.

Advantages of Manual Time Tracking

The greatest advantage of manual time tracking is its low implementation cost. There is no need for specific software or sophisticated infrastructure, making it very affordable for most organisations. Its implementation is not difficult either, as it is easy to train most employees on what a timesheet looks like and how to fill it out. In addition, manual tracking is flexible and would easily accommodate any unique work arrangement and exceptions that may occur.

Disadvantages of Manual Time Tracking

In today’s context, the disadvantages of manual time tracking outweigh the advantages. You can’t expect data accuracy in it because some mistakes are always made in recording or calculating hours. It is also inefficient and laborious, and requires much more time from employees and managers. Lack of transparency also makes tracking of employee work patterns ineffective. There is compliance risk as well because mistakes in time tracking can result in non-compliance with labour laws and regulations.

Best Practices

Even with the best time-tracking methods, practices, and policies, manual time-tracking still has significant disadvantages. Therefore, the most straightforward approach is to adopt automation for the future.