What Is Time Theft And How To Tackle It?

Do you think that your employees are not working appropriately at their working hours or filching time from your company? I’m asking this from you because, there are several examples of time thievery done by employees. And office time theft is a commonly occurring issue, though it might take years to discover that an employee is using office time for personal work, but let me tell you, the longer it goes on, the more it costs to the company!

Beside that according to the Statistics Brain reports, time theft done by employees costs companies $50 billion per year. Further companies frequently overlook the significant impacts of this issue. For instance, there are 10 employees who carry out this process in your company, then approximately you'd lose $125 a week, up to $6,500 a year in total. But you can save all your business money by mitigating the theft of time. And thankfully, there are ways you can eliminate theft of time and spot it. But how do you avoid workplace time theft? Below, in this article, you will get to know about:

1. What is Time Theft?

2. How Employee Time Theft Occur?

3. How To Prevent Time Theft?

What is Time Theft?

Time theft is when an employee received pay for work that he or she has not actually served. Time thievery is not specific to any position or field. The theft of time mainly relates to hourly employees. There are more ways of performing time thievery for casual employees than there are for regular employees.

How Employee Time Theft Occurs?

When you look at the timesheets of your employees and think that something doesn't stack up, you might be right. Perhaps there was less work done than you anticipated. Or you might find that one employee never seems to complete their work on time.  

Here are a few factors to watch out for in their activity if you seriously doubt employees are thievery time in the office with the help of computer monitoring software.

Misrepresenting their time worked.

Some of the most common ways employees perform time thievery in the office are to log in early and log out late. Specifically, if you are using pen and paper for employees to record log-in and log-out times; Then numbers could easily be misrepresented without being readily verifiable.

Taking longer breaks than allowed by their shifts

For employee satisfaction, working breaks can be great and can also improve efficiency. But is it a general way of time thievery, is taking longer breaks than authorized. So, if you observe that employees are stretching their breaks for significant amounts of time, you might need an appropriate way to track working hours.

Buddy punching

Buddy punching is when an employee with another employee logs in or out, probably because an employee has not yet arrived at work or missed out early. Buddy punching seems to be more likely to occur when you manually log hours (via pen and paper) or when you use an old-fashioned time clock 'punch'. These analog devices are simpler to manipulate than most digital applications for time clocks.

Getting distracted by the internet

Surfing the internet can be the main distraction, especially for employees who spend most of their workday gazing at a monitor. Employees who spend time in this manner will waste their working hours in browsing social networking sites or other sites that are not relevant to work.

How To Prevent Time Theft?

After having an overview of what is time theft and how it occurs, the essential part is to know the various ways to prevent time theft. Therefore, let us have a look at it!

Use monitoring software

You will better detect employees performing time theft by keeping a close watch on employees' arrival and leaving. You configure their timetables, so you know when they're going to come to work and leave. 

But while using the employee internet monitoring software the process gets quite easier to manage and observe the time thievery activity. With the monitoring tool, you can easily detect where employees are working or not. Moreover, this software will also help minimize the time spent on personal activities or on sites that distract them. Many apps allow employers to monitor their time to the minute when working on various tasks. You may also watch the computer operation of employees by screenshots or URL reports.

Summing Up

After an agile guide on what is time theft, how it occurs, and how to prevent it, I will only suggest an employer should cautiously address this sensitive topic. In order to root out time theft, employers should normally stop implementing an offensive or excessively disruptive activity.

Is Employee Monitoring Legal- Facts You Need To Know For Better Operation

 

Employee Monitoring is becoming a need for every company out there. Whether you own a small or large company, monitoring your employees who are working remotely due to this pandemic is super essential. 

But before you go setting up the monitoring tool in your employee's system, the most vital question that arises in everyone's mind - "Is employee monitoring legal?"

While monitoring employee's activities come with a lot of advantages, there are even some downsides to using it. If not done correctly, then it can even have an adverse effect as well.

A lot of confusion! Right?

Don't worry, here in this article we will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of monitoring employees. Along with it, we will talk about the top 04 employee monitoring tools that are legit and suitable for all-sized organizations. 

So, stay tuned!!

Advantages Of Employee Monitoring

If done correctly, employee monitoring can provide you with a lot of advantages. And here in this section, we are going to discuss all of them.

1. Productivity Booster

Well, there are a lot of questions that arise while you manage remote employees:

Are the employees working? Or wasting their time surfing on the internet?

How much time does an employee spend on completing a particular task?

A simple answer to all these questions is monitoring their activities. This practice will not only help you know how much time they spend on any given task, but you can even figure out ways to increase productivity based on it. All you will need is a perfect productivity tracking software that could help you do so with great ease. 

Thus, we conclude that monitoring employee's activities help you increase productivity in the organization. 

2. Reduces Policy Violations

There are still many employees who believe that the rules and regulations of the company are not for them. And, such type of employees usually tries to break the rules when their bosses are not around them. Here, the employee monitoring software will help you find out those who are willingly violating the policies. 

3. Reduces mistakes

Well, the worker monitoring software allows you to track all the blunders and errors done by your employees daily. Further, you can make use of all these data to set up a training program that will showcase all the issues. 

Such software even helps you to lessen further errors by confronting the employees and helping them to improve. 

4. Increased security

Yes, you heard it right! Well, if you have a question in your mind - "Is employee monitoring legal?", then yes it is legal until you use the right monitoring software. And let me tell you one thing, the best monitoring software comes up with tight security measures as well.

So, if you are going to use any monitoring software, make sure to check whether it has the data security feature or not! And if you find such software, then you are all set to go ahead.

4. Transparency

Almost every employer tries to keep his team members in sync. But in the current scenario where most of the employees are working remotely, it has become really very difficult to manage the team properly. You may face problems in managing your employees in the right manner. 

But not anymore! With the best employee management system, you can easily manage your employees, and it will help you build transparency with your employees. 

5. Anti-stalking protection

We all hear about various bullying and harassing cases taking place in different companies. Whether it's a small or big company, many employees face these types of situations, which not only takes the company's repo down, but it affects their mental health as well. 

Thus to stop such activities from getting started in your company, it's better to install an employee tracking software in the employee's system. 

04 Outstanding Employee Monitoring Software You Need To Check Right Now

1. EmpMonitor

If you want to run a smooth workflow in your organization with proper security and safety measures, then EmpMonitor can be the right tool for you. Being specialized in the security and monitoring solutions, EmpMonitor has become an ideal monitoring tool for every businessman out there. 

It provides you with a hassle-free and smooth monitoring process. 

So, stop wasting your time searching for tips to keep your team productive or to monitor their activities clearly! Install EmpMonitor in your employee's system to do all these things in a lot smarter way. 

2. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is an excellent option for those of you who are trying to manage their remote employees properly. It can be a struggle to keep the employees motivated and on-task while they aren't in the workplace, but this app helps to hold them to account.

3. ActivTrak

ActivTrak is an excellent cloud-native workplace management tool specialized in calculating the productivity of employees. It analyzes every employee's workplace operation. You will receive reports that will help you identify your hardest-working staff and unproductive workers.

4. Veriato

Veriato ranks high on the workplace management software list. This excellent software offers a lot of exciting features that could help you manage your remote employees in the best manner.

Conclusion

That's all for today's topic! Hopefully, the above-stated facts can help you clear all your doubts on "Is employee monitoring legal?". Since employees are working remotely, it would be better if you trust them and make the best choices that could benefit both the employees and your company. Apart from that, the top 04 employee tracking tools, illustrated in this article, can even help you decide which software can fit best to your needs.

Tips & Best Practices For Ensuring Remote Work Security

 

With more companies shifting to the remote work trend, many unique security challenges arise among organizations.

Since employees work from home, they rely on their wi-fi or data connection, which might expose the company’s sensitive data to potential risks. All these threats have a significant impact on the overall working atmosphere and productivity of every firm.

And, to escape from these kinds of hazards, companies must implement worthwhile policies and dynamic plans that guarantee full safety. Apart from this, the selection of the right tools and well-defined training can also prevent security risks to a great extent.

Have a look at some common yet best tips & practices to keep remote work security in place while getting the most out of your remote workforce.

Remote Work Security- Best Practices + Tips

Set Up Effective Data Safety Policies First

Company data is valuable. So, take out time to choose the right candidates for handling those data. Limiting access is also a good option if you don’t want to freak out thinking about how multiple employees have been accessing data.

Internal security breaches can easily take place within a company due to mistakes of employees (though unintentionally), but it’s not a major challenge for managers. In contrast to that, when data goes outside of the firm via any means, this leads to critical circumstances. 

Besides all these, one of the straightforward ways to protect valuable data is drafting clear policies that speak about expectations employees keep from employees (regarding data security) and also the consequences of not complying with those policies.

Use Advanced Tools And Embrace Technology Advancement

Data security is not just about formulating policies, you ought to equip workers with efficient tools that encourage them to remain accommodating. The comprehensive list of tools includes password manager to antivirus software installation. Your remote team ultimately turns out more productive when they get the right tools to work with.

Another advantage that comes with advanced tools is that these boost the working ability of employees by getting rid of unnecessary worries about risk factors. Thus, they can make a better focus on completing the given task on time and with no errors.

Adopt Multi-Factor Authentication

You might don’t know, but multi-factor authentication remains the most effective method to verify the true identity of people. This approach demands a different set of information from users, including security checks, pop-up notifications, contact number identification, biometrics, and many more. The majority of remote working organizations embrace MFA to impede security hazards.

Keep Applications And Programs Fully Updated

Updating applications and programs are bothersome, but it saves devices from malware attacks. Yes, work gets hamper while updating the software since developers have to walk down to a lengthy process, however, its outcome proves to be valuable later.

At the same time, updates freak out employers when the team is working from a remote location. It often leads to miscommunication and technical issues.

Manage Workplaces Of Remote Employees

Fortunately, the current market is loaded with efficient productivity tracking and employee monitoring software that slacks off the heavy burden of organizations.

Not just employers, even employees are now aware of the positive consequences of using monitoring software, such as calculation of overtime pay, work behavior analysis, and many more.

Together, all these contribute to raising productivity, protecting precious data, regulating policies, and other crucial conducts. 

Also, look at- Common Challenges That Comes With Remote Work Security.

Under the circumstances of managing remote employees, employers encounter numerous challenges. Some of them are:-

Security Issues

You have got a bit of sheer luck if your employees are responsible enough to determine and eliminate security threats on time. But, those qualities seem so rare in the current scenario. Consequently, business owners have to be more attentive, which affects their other duties.

More chances of scams

Organizations hire employees with unique skills to recognize and sort out scams. When it comes to regular workers, then things appear to be complicated. In this way, security is exposed to danger.

Conclusion

Of course, the technique of handling remote work security changes (or feel more challenging) with time. Despite all the obstacles, you can safeguard policies by using insider threat management tools available out there.

Why You Should Care About Stress-Free Work Environment?

 

At this present moment, jobs are growing more and more challenging to come across. Maybe this is the only reason why the majority of the companies started putting pressure on their employees.

Being stressed at the workplace comes with some shortcomings but, lack of productivity is one of the most strong drawbacks which leads to lack of development and professional growth, inflexibility, long working hours, and many more.

Because of these drawbacks, the companies need to make a chilled and relaxing environment to come up with great success in marketing.

In this article, in this article check out some of the ways to maintain a stress-free work environment that will help the employee to be equally productive.

1. UPGRADE REMOTE WORKING.

Organizations that do not support remote working should start supporting this trend. The unique reason is it allows the employee to work from their desired workplace. They can also choose their preferred time so that they can totally devote their time to working instead of getting distracted with some other reasons.

You must be enquiring about how remote work can be a remarkable feature to have a stress free work environment.

Yes, it encourages the employees not to take the pressure of going to the office and staying late to complete their work. They can work from their desired place, which helps them to work comfortably.

2. SET REASONABLE GOALS.

Every higher authority requires us to prepare everything so that work can be completed on time by the employees. Employers have to fix goals and divide the work in a way that employees don't feel the stress of accomplishing their tasks.

Employees can work comfortably and dedicatedly to complete their office work between the deadline if senior authorities distribute tasks on time. But if assigning tasks and setting fixed goals is not done correctly, they will experience stress to finish their assignments on time.

It is the essential factor that companies require to follow because it helps the employees to be productive and complete their tasks on time.

3. PRAISE FEEDBACK.

Feedback sessions are conducted by the higher authorities, where they can communicate with employees comfily. Hence, they can share their queries with the seniors.

Receiving feedback from the company's employees helps the company because they will come to know about the exact issues that their employees are facing and solve them as fast as possible.

Maintaining a stress-free work environment makes employees productive.

 

4. MAKE USE OF RIGHT TOOLS.

Thousands of various tools are present, which can make employees more productive. Different companies implement some tools to make their employees work in a better way and to be productive.

Well, Installing employee monitoring software like EmpMonitor can be considered by companies for more productivity.

EmpMonitor is the most helpful for employers to manage and monitor their employees instinctively. It helps the higher authorities to track their employee's work productivity during their official working hours.

Managers can keep track of all the activities employees perform during their working hours, and software facilitates the managers to track internet and computer activity performed by the employees.

They can also monitor the keyboard and screen of the employees' system whether they are working efficiently or not.

Some Features Of EmpMonitor.

1. Provide productivity reports in detail.
2. Capture screenshots of the system.
3. Provide detailed information about app usage and how many times a particular website is visited.
4. Having a surprising feature Stealth mode.
5. Provide Role-Based Access.

FINAL WORDS

The companies have to obey the mentioned tips to sustain a boomy and stress-free work environment for employees.

I hope the article helped you know some tips on how managers can have stress in the workplace.

Questions You Should Ask Before Using Screenshot Monitoring?

Screenshot monitoring is a leading time monitoring tool used in an organisation to keep track of the time spent by an employee on a particular task. This technique is commonly used, by the companies practising remote workforce. Well, this sort of monitoring is also well known in companies incorporating in-office employees. The executives in an organisation can keep track of which site the employee is working in, what are the websites and applications the employee is using while working and every detail of their work right after the commencement of their working hours. Screenshot monitoring adds an extraordinary benefit for the higher authorities as it empowers them to take a screenshot of the employee's work screen without the employee acknowledging it.

Why is screenshot monitoring necessary?

While addressing the benefits of this type of monitoring the first thought arises is if we have access to observe the activities of the employee by observing their productivity during the working hours then why do we need to take a screenshot?

Well, capturing a screenshot of the work furnished by an employee can be quite effective at times while preserving the records. It can serve as a proof of the work accomplished by an employee and we will be able to estimate their productivity as well. This would be the most effortless way to maintain a record of data of the projects perfected by an employee.

Is it even legal to screenshot monitor?

The answer is a big yes!! 

Yes, nowadays, monitoring employees is legal process as the company can unquestionably look out for what the employee does throughout the working hours.

An employee is being paid for whatever he/she does in the working hours by the organisation. Therefore, the organisation has the power to manage and monitor the exercises of an employee throughout the working hours. After all, the employee uses the company's assets to work either for the client or for the organisation itself. Hence they are required to spend their time working for the group and meeting the deadlines preferably than entertainment or other distractions. The employee should be aware that using any other sites that are not associated with their job might be dangerous because there is a chance of the company's information being leaked which is highly confidential. They might also tend to drop out data related to the projects they are working on.

Accordingly, during their rest hours, the employees can simply check their mobile phones for pleasure. Well, even if they use the company's devices to check their social media or any other sites it is completely unethical on the executives part to access any of their personal information.

Therefore the company must invest in tools that give a clear picture of the employee's productivity hours. If you are searching for a similar tool then EmpMonitor is the best productivity tracking software. This software enables you to keep track of all the actions of an employee immediately after logging into the system. EmpMonitor also assists you with the speciality of taking a screenshot of the employees working screen. This helps you preserve a record of what the employee does throughout the working hours. The most important characteristic of this software is that it is undetectable by the user while tracing their screen.

Conclusion

We can reasonably state that a screenshot monitor is permitted but, the employers should not mistreat this power. They should only be bothered about if the tasks are completed within the deadline by the employees. The employees should be given some personal space despite using the organisation's equipment. The higher authorities must not take profits by ill-treating the personal information of the employees.

I believe this article was helpful. Is there something more that you would like to add? If yes, then please drop your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to hear it from you!

03 Trustworthy Internet Monitoring Software For Parents

 

Today kids and teenagers are very active over the internet. Days are gone where their curious minds have to ask questions from their parents. Now they know they can get the right answer to any question just by searching on Google. 

Well, it is not wrong saying that the internet has become one of the greatest hubs to gain knowledge for them, but have you ever thought about its dark side?

There are plenty of websites, games, and social media platforms that can influence your child in the wrong direction. Hence as a parent, it’s your duty to take care of what they do over the internet. 

Now the question arises, how? How can one keep an eagle eye over their children without letting them feel suffocated?

Well, the answer to this is - internet monitoring software for parents. Software designed to monitor each and every action did by your child on his/her computer.

Wait! Want to learn more about this software?

Let's dive into this article then.

What is an internet tracking tool for the parent?

Internet tracking tools for parents is designed to help them find how their kids are utilizing the resources over the internet.  Through this software, busy parents can get a complete track record of their kid's actions without checking their computer manually. Besides, parental management software also allows them to understand how much their child spends time on the internet and in which sites they are involved.

Best computer tracking software for parents

EmpMonitor

Parents can't stop their children from accessing the internet completely. Hence to help such parents and children, Empmonitor has come with parental control software. This software will help parents to watch what their kids are watching in their system without wasting time checking the computer manually.

Some of the features include - 

Generate screenshots at every predefined interval of time.

Parents can access their EmpMonitor account from anywhere with any device having an internet connection.

It entirely runs in stealth monitoring mode, that is, your child can't find it anywhere in the program list.

It helps to see the list of websites and apps visited by the user in real-time. 

Allows parents to see the complete browsing history of their children.

Also provides a detailed report of their kid's internet activity in a single place. 

Qustodio

Qustodio is one of the best modern ways to save children from being a part of the internet's dark side. By allowing parents to access their computer through the dashboard or through mobile apps, this internet monitoring software for parents help them by-

Blocking apps which are not suitable for the kids.

Showing detailed activity performed on the computer

Restricting contents an internet user can access, and a lot more

Norton Family Premier

Norton Family premier is another parental control software that has loads of features to control activity on the internet. 

Some of the features include - 

Helps in the tracking of websites and apps accessed by kids. 

Protecting personal information to get shared inadvertently.

Building of complete report about the user activity on the internet.

Wrapping Words

Unfortunately, the rate of cybercrimes is growing day by day, and according to a survey, kids and teenagers are getting trapped in such circumstances very easily. As, they are more prone to internet risks such as cyberbullying, hateful content, and many more. Hence, looking at the kid's online activity is a necessary step that must be taken care of by every parent. 

So why to stake your kid's life? Find a suitable internet monitoring software for parents and let you know whether your children are in safe hands or not.