Time clock
Encyclopedia
Hourly worker
An hourly worker or hourly employee is an employee paid an hourly wage for their services, as opposed to a fixed salary. Hourly workers may often be found in service and manufacturing occupations, but are common across a variety of fields....
an employee of a company worked. In regards to mechanical time clocks this was accomplished by inserting a heavy paper card, called a timesheet
Timesheet
A timesheet is a method for recording the amount of a worker's time spent on each job.-Use:Originally developed for an employer to determine payroll, timesheets are not just for payroll any more. Timesheets may record the start and end time of tasks, or just the duration. It may contain a...
, into a slot on the time clock. When the time card hit a contact at the rear of the slot, the machine would print day and time information on the card. This allowed a timekeeper
Timekeeper
A timekeeper is an instrument or person that measures the passage of time; in the case of the latter, often with the assistance of a clock or stopwatch...
to have an official record of the hours an employee worked to calculate and pay an employee.
History
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Auburn, New York
Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,687...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. A year later his brother, Harlow Bundy, organized the Bundy Manufacturing Company
Bundy Manufacturing Company
The Bundy Manufacturing Company was a 19th-century American manufacturer of timekeeping devices that went through a series of mergers, eventually becoming part of International Business Machines. The company was founded by the Bundy brothers....
, and began mass producing time clocks. Bundy Manufacturing, along with two other time equipment businesses, was consolidated into the International Time Recording Company (ITR). In 1911, ITR and two other companies were merged, forming Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation (CTR), which would later change its name to IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
. In 1958, IBM's Time Equipment Division was sold to the Simplex Time Recorder Company. However in the United Kingdom ITR (A subsidiary of IBM United Kingdom Ltd.) was the subject of a Management Buy Out in 1963 and reverted to International Time Recorders. In 1982, International Time Recorders was acquired by Blick Industries of Swindon, England, who were themselves later absorbed by Stanley Security Systems.
The time cards usually had the workdays and time in and time out areas marked on them so that employees could "punch in" or "punch out" in the correct place. The employee was responsible to line up the correct area of the card to be punched with an indicator on the time card. Software applications offer such a system.
The first punched-card system to be linked to a Z80 microprocessor was developed by Kronos Incorporated
Kronos Incorporated
Kronos Incorporated, is a U.S.-based multi-national human capital management software and services company headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA and employing 3,000 people.- History :...
in the late 1970s and introduced as a product in 1979.
There are two different types of time cards conventionally used with a manual time clock, clipper and punch hole cards. There are also variations based on manufacture and machine used, and whether the user wants to record weekly or monthly recordings. Typically time cards are divided into sections for time and day stamping. More advanced time clocks require more advanced cards.
Although there are many brands and variations of time clocks, it’s noted that there are 4 key variations of time clocks, basic, self calculating, time and date stamps and software based time and attendance systems.
A basic time clock will just stamp the date and time, on a time card. It may feature a bell or signal relay to signal a certain time or break. These will usually be activated by a button that a worker must press to stamp their card. Although an effective method of recording time these types of machine are flawed and common issues include overstamping, where one time is stamped over another, and buddy stamping, where a friend clocks in another member of staff. A basic clock can range in functionality with more features on higher end machines or more industrial uses.
Self-calculating machines are similar to basic time clocks, however at the end of each period the total time recorded is added up allowing for quicker processing by HR or payroll. These machines sometimes have other functions such as automatic stamping, dual colour printing and automated column shift.
Software based time and attendance systems are similar to a paper based systems, however they rely on computers and check in terminals. They are backed up with software that can be integrated with a firms HR department and in some cases payroll software. These types of system are becoming more popular however due to initial cost they are only adopted by large business of over 30 employees. Despite this they can save a business thousands of pounds a year by cutting down errors and reducing administration time.
In recent times, time clocks started to move away from the mechanical machines to computer based, electronic time and attendance
Time and attendance
Time and attendance, or Workforce Management, systems are used by companies of all sizes to record working hours of employees primarily in order to pay their wages. Some companies have a requirement to record the number of hours spent on specific tasks in order to cost jobs accurately...
systems. The employee either swipes a magnetic stripe card
Magnetic stripe card
A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card...
, brings an RFID tag into proximity with a reader, enters an employee number or uses a biometric reader to identify the employee to the system. These systems are much more advanced than the mechanical time clock, various reports can be generated, including European working time directive, and a Bradford factor report. Employees can also request holidays, enter in absenteeism requests and view their worked hours.
Biometrics
Biometric time clocks are a feature of more advanced time and attendanceTime and attendance
Time and attendance, or Workforce Management, systems are used by companies of all sizes to record working hours of employees primarily in order to pay their wages. Some companies have a requirement to record the number of hours spent on specific tasks in order to cost jobs accurately...
systems. Rather than using a key, code or chip to identify the user, they rely on a unique attribute of the user, such as a hand print, finger print, finger vein, palm vein, facial recognition, iris or retina. The user will have their attribute scanned into the system. Biometric readers are often used in conjunction with an access control system, granting the user access to a building, and at the same time clocking them in recording the time and date. These systems also attempt to cut down on fraud such a buddy punching. When combined with an access control system they can help prevent other types of fraud such as ghost employees where employees are actually at work to clock in but then leave for the day only to return after their shift to clock out.
See also
- Time and attendanceTime and attendanceTime and attendance, or Workforce Management, systems are used by companies of all sizes to record working hours of employees primarily in order to pay their wages. Some companies have a requirement to record the number of hours spent on specific tasks in order to cost jobs accurately...
- TimekeeperTimekeeperA timekeeper is an instrument or person that measures the passage of time; in the case of the latter, often with the assistance of a clock or stopwatch...
- TimesheetTimesheetA timesheet is a method for recording the amount of a worker's time spent on each job.-Use:Originally developed for an employer to determine payroll, timesheets are not just for payroll any more. Timesheets may record the start and end time of tasks, or just the duration. It may contain a...
- Game clockGame clockA game clock consists of two adjacent clocks and buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, such that the two component clocks never run simultaneously. Game clocks are used in two-player games where the players move in turn...
- StopwatchStopwatchA stopwatch is a handheld timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when activated to when the piece is deactivated. A large digital version of a stopwatch designed for viewing at a distance, as in a sports stadium, is called a stopclock.The timing functions...
External links
- IBM Time Clocks (PDF files)
- National Museum of American History: International Dial Time Recorder Clock
- Industrial Time Recorders - Chapter 175 of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC)
- www.timerecorder.de/ (mostly in German, but partly translated into English) is one of the most comprehensive online documentations of the history of time recorders and time clocks
- Harlow Bundy's home in Binghamton, it was restored and now houses a museum dedicated to the Bundys.