As a business owner, tracking precise time and attendance is an important part of maintaining payroll accuracy and operational efficiency. Unfortunately, buddy punching is a common practice that leads to inaccurate time records.
Buddy punching in the workplace has significant negative consequences, namely, increasing company costs and reducing your profits. This article will explore the causes and consequences of buddy punching as well as effective strategies to prevent and address buddy punching in your workplace.
Eliminate buddy punching and ensure accurate work hours with our secure time tracking solution.
What is buddy punching, and how can you prevent and address it as a business owner or employer? Our comprehensive guide covers this topic in detail.
Buddy punching is a practice in which an employee clocks in or out for another employee.
Employees do this to make it appear as though they are at work when they are not. Buddy punching is a form of time theft that can have significant financial consequences for a company. For employers in the United States, the cost of buddy punching is about $373 million every year.
Let’s look at a few examples of buddy punching to further understand its consequences.
John, an employee at a manufacturing plant, is running late to work. To avoid getting into trouble for being tardy, he asks his friend Sarah to clock in for him. Sarah feels obligated to help, so she agrees to clock in for John. John wasn't actually present during those hours, but the company's payroll system will indicate that he was.
Buddy punching can take place at any time during a shift.
For instance, Mark is a staff member at a local retail store. It’s currently the end of the workday and Mark is worn out and wants to go home early. He knows the store manager is strict about adhering to the schedule, so instead of facing the consequences of leaving early, Mark asks his co-worker Maria to clock out for him. Maria remains to finish her shift and clocks out for herself and Mark, giving the impression they both worked their full shift. This case is a classic example of buddy punching.
Is buddy punching illegal?
While buddy punching itself isn't explicitly illegal, it can lead to illegal activities.
Employees who engage in buddy punching may face criminal charges in response to serious, widespread instances of time theft, particularly if the business experiences a large financial loss.
Buddy punching may be prohibited for the following reasons:
It is a form of theft since employees are essentially getting paid for hours they haven't worked.
Buddy punching is the intentional fabrication of work hours,and may be regarded as a type of fraud. If businesses use timekeeping data for payroll or performance reviews this could be particularly troublesome.
Many companies develop buddy punching policies prohibiting the practice. In this situation, employees who engage in buddy punching violate corporate policy.
How does buddy punching impact businesses and teams?
Buddy punching can affect your employees and business in a number of ways. Below we have listed some of the most common impacts of buddy punching.
Growth of buddy punching culture
If your company promotes a culture of buddy punching, newly hired employees may think it’s acceptable to engage in the practice. Over time, your company will suffer from the consequences of time theft and employee productivity declines.
By implementing measures to prevent buddy punching, you can deliver a clear message that this behavior is not acceptable.
When employees submit timesheets that include hours they did not actually spend working, you end up paying inflated amounts for compensation. For accurate payroll calculations, you may find it helpful to use Timeero’s time conversion chart.
Decreased morale in high-performing employees
It’s not uncommon for employees who do not commit buddy punching to experience feelings of resentment and decreased motivation in the workplace. If you fail to reprimand employees who commit buddy punching and continue to provide them full compensation, the morale of your trustworthy employees is bound to decline.
Additionally, reliable employees may feel more pressure as they fill in for absent workers who utilized buddy punching. By creating and enforcing a buddy punching policy, you can reduce turnover rates and encourage employee accountability.
How to prevent buddy punching
Buddy punching is a serious issue that can lead to financial losses, decreased productivity, and legal consequences. To effectively prevent buddy punching, employers should implement a combination of strategies.
Below are several ways you can prevent buddy punching in your business.
1. Create clear policies
One of the most effective ways to prevent buddy punching is to create a strict buddy punching policy that discusses:
What buddy punching is
Examples of buddy punching
Why it is unacceptable
Consequences imposed on employees for buddy punching
As a formal document, all employees should have easy access to the policy and a clear understanding of where the company lies when it comes to buddy punching.
2. Build a culture of transparency
It is rare to find employees engaging in unacceptable practices like buddy punching when your company is built on transparency.
By establishing open lines of communication, employers can develop a trusting relationship with their employees. Employees are more likely to approach a manager to ask for time off and discuss work conflicts if they feel comfortable with them. Additionally, workers are less likely to submit falsified timesheets if they know their manager is willing to work with them on schedule changes.
3. Install CCTV
Companies that do not employ a mobile workforce often install CCTV cameras to capture video evidence of employees’ attendance habits.
Although CCTV camera surveillance is a viable solution, managers will need to monitor the footage every day to confirm employees were physically present at work. If a business has more than a handful of employees, this verification process can be exhausting and time-consuming.
4. Invest in time tracking software
Time tracking software is an invaluable tool for combating buddy punching and ensuring accurate timekeeping. By incorporating biometric authentication, geolocation tracking, and automatic time tracking, these systems can significantly reduce the risk of employees falsifying their hours.
Advanced software can detect anomalies in time records, such as excessive overtime or inconsistent patterns, which indicate potential buddy punching. With detailed reports and analytics in hand, you can quickly address unwanted attendance trends.
By implementing time tracking software, your company can significantly reduce the risk of buddy punching.
How to address buddy punching
If you find out your employees are guilty of buddy punching, there are certain steps you can take to address this problem.
Send out warning notices
If you suspect your employees are participating in buddy punching, address it as soon as possible. Start by issuing warning notices to employees and explain that this practice is unacceptable and employees found engaging in the behavior will be subject to disciplinary action.
Warning notices can be placed on the company notice board, as well as through email. To make sure your workers take buddy punching seriously, you may want to address the issue in an in-person meeting, explaining that buddy punching is a form of employee time theft that will not be tolerated.
Get to the root cause
There is often an underlying reason why employees engage in unacceptable behavior in the workplace. Take time to understand what is causing buddy punching at your company so that you can find ways to deal with it appropriately.
Having frequent meetings with employees to review performance is the perfect time to address attendance patterns and discuss your company’s buddy punching policy.
Enforce consequences of buddy punching
To drive home the fact that your business does not tolerate buddy punching, you must be consistent in issuing disciplinary action. Employees are discouraged from practicing buddy punching when you consistently enforce company policy and enforce consequences for timekeeping violations.
Incentivize honest behavior
Consider awarding high performing employees with incentives that boost productivity and morale. When employees are recognized for their hard work, they are more likely to feel valued and stay away from time theft tactics like buddy punching.
Use Timeero to effectively prevent buddy punching
If left unaddressed, buddy punching can grow into a much bigger problem than you anticipated. The good thing is, there are measures you can take as an employer to prevent buddy punching from happening in the first place.
To eliminate buddy punching, use Timeero, a powerful GPS time and location tracking app. Timeero’s software provides a number of features you can utilize to make sure your employee's time records are accurate.
Emily Maina is a tech-savvy writer with a passion for creating content. With years of experience in the industry, she is well-versed in the latest trends and developments in the tech industry. When she’s not working, Emily enjoys exploring the great outdoors or watching her favorite shows.
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