6 Reasons Why Restaurant Owners Should Make Time Tracking a Priority

Most culinary creatives, budding chefs, and entrepreneurs dream of starting a restaurant. Yet, those who already own one know that this dream comes with a list of responsibilities.

As an owner, you likely wear many hats when running your business.

You may begin your day as the finance officer, managing payroll, then taking on the role of chef, then later filling in for a certain position, like server, because of an absent staff member.

Whatever the role, the end result should lead to customer satisfaction, and in order to obtain this goal, you must focus on a major key factor, and that is employee satisfaction. So, all of the previously stated positions, along with the many others that contribute to a restaurant's success, must be on point at all times.

Incorporating an employee time clock to increase productivity will help you accomplish this. Automating back-office processes actually helps improve productivity by 30%.

Today, a time clock has become a game-changer irrespective of whether you have salaried, hourly, full-time, or part-time employees staffed in your restaurant.

The myth that attendance tracking software is irrelevant to salaried employees no longer holds any credibility. This is because time tracking also helps with scheduling, eliminating buddy punching, ensuring compliance with labor laws, shift trading, and even keeping track of overtime.

As per the US Department of Labor, the department has recovered over $1.3 billion in the last 5 years as the total cost of minimum wages and overtime violations. With an easy to use time clock, you can save tons in costs and avoid any legal battles that would otherwise ensue if labor laws were compromised in any way.

For those who are still apprehensive about making time tracking a priority, take a peek at this list for the top reasons why implementing a time clock into your restaurant is a necessity for your employees and your business.

Reduces Clopenings

The most demanding task to master is the instances of clopening, wherein an employee scheduled to close the restaurant late at night is also scheduled to reopen the following morning.

Such a work schedule leaves the employee overworked and exhausted, thereby resulting in employee burnout. Even some of the most popular restaurants have come under scrutiny for its clopening practices.

The act of making employee satisfaction a priority is the best way to reach long-term profitability. And, owners can achieve it with the help of an easy to use time clock, that is also integrated with scheduling features.

The app or timer sends a reminder whenever it encounters a clopening case, should an employee mistakenly be scheduled for that type of shift.

Increases Productivity

It's a universal fact that some employees waste time while at work some more than others, but it's true.

The distractions that exist with smartphones and social media attribute to employee distraction.

A distracted employee can easily mix up orders, forget to seat waiting guests, forget to restock inventory; the list goes on. Ultimately, all scenarios result in customer dissatisfaction and reduce employee productivity.

Using a time clock, employees can record the completed tasks, record break times, and create lists of projects/tasks for the next scheduled shift. Management can also utilize the software to leaven personal notes to employees about tasks that were either not completed entirely or completed up to standard.

Improves Accuracy of Payroll Data

It's no mystery that creating payroll data is one of the most time-consuming tasks. With constant changes to shifts, changing labor laws, unclear overtime regulations, and varied tax reforms, creating accurate payroll data is quite challenging.

However, an easy to use a time clock, which integrates with the current payroll of your restaurant, can seamlessly solve these problems.

This kind of software eliminates manual intervention and uses an automated process to pay employees accurately and on time.

Assistance in Managing Multiple Locations

When you have a chain of restaurants to manage, every employee to monitor and their time worked to record can grow to be quite a challenging task. Sure, you may have individual managers to assist in every location, but everything boils down to you because you manage the payroll and keep track of the profitability of every location.

With the most advanced time clocks, you can manage conflicts more easily and promptly, making it more seamless when determining major business decisions.

Using the data from the time clock, you can address the problem by changing the policy. With the help of a single software, your entire restaurant business will work effortlessly, ensuring you have control over the operations.

Simplifies PTO and OT Processes

Using universal time tracking software, your employees can quickly request time off. You or a restaurant manager approve it on the app, thereby ensuring no conflict in the schedule of other employees.

With stringent labor laws in practice, it becomes necessary to tightly monitor every employee's working time, in relation to what was initially scheduled.

Mismanaged overtime in salaried employees is one of the biggest factors contributing to employee burnout. And, a higher burnout results in a higher attrition rate, which reduces the productivity of your restaurant.

Every time you find and train a new employee, you tremendously slow down the growth of your restaurant, because your time is taken away from other areas of business.

Avoid Lawsuits and Fines

Affordable Care Act (ACA), Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) apply to all types of employees, and a time clock works as building blocks for ensuring labor compliance.

The software stores essential information, such as PTO, overtime, and regular pay, automatically creates a paper trail that protects your business from audits and potential lawsuits.

Having a time clock that is easy to use will make your work life exponentially easier, and more importantly, improve your employees' well being.