The Secret to Time and Attendance Compliance

Many providers using time and attendance struggle to get staff to clock-in and out consistently. Among providers using Agency Workforce Management the average amount of staff compliance is about 85%, but that means a good percentage of providers are below 80%.

Less than 80% equals a lot of edits, busy work, and potential timesheet fraud. Plus, with EVV regulations, reimbursements could be delayed or an audit triggered.

MITC interviewed a provider in Eastern Pennsylvania, who is doing well, to find out their secret. 

The agency currently employs over 600 staff providing HCBS, Group Home and Day services to individuals. Ten years ago, the provider decided to give up on paper time sheets and implement an automated time and attendance system. At that point in time all staff used the telephone to clock-in/out and employee self-service was non-existent. Today, staff use a mixture of telephone and internet devices, like smart phones. Self-service was introduced some years ago.

So What Does This Agency Do Differently?

1. Staff can use both telephone and smart phones. Giving staff a choice eliminates a lot of reasons such as, “I forgot my iPhone”, “the internet was down”, or “someone was using the computer”. Once bad habits start, they spread.
2. The agency encourages staff to use self-service. On average, staff use self-service 54 times a month to check their timesheet, request edits, fix missing records, and request PTO. Over 13,000 PTO requests were managed in 2020 at an average of nearly 2 requests per month per employee. The more employees use the system, the more they rely on it and understand how it works.
3. The agency believes in always empowering staff to track their own time, and having strong communication at all levels. Staff are trained on clocking-in, in real time, and managers on how to take care of staff requests. By keeping administration out of the loop, employees and managers become used to fixing their own issues and minimizing busy work.
4. Employees understand that their timesheet needs to be correct to get paid correctly and it is on them to get it right.

This system not only works for the agency, but it has improved overall operations. To learn more about how your agency can take the next step towards time and attendance compliance, email us at agencysuccessteam@mitcsoftware.com.