Time theft takes place when employees get remunerated for work they haven’t done.More appropriately, they get paid for time not spent on business work. Considering the growth of mobile workforce and easy internet access, time theft is becoming a more serious concern for businesses today. The issue is so serious that businesses are losing billions of dollars worth of productivity on an annual basis.However, time theft is not limited to a certain kind of person, designation or industry. This takes place everywhere. And people are getting more creative in ways to evade work.This is where businesses need to take a more proactive approach and fight against employee time theft. To do that, we must first understand various forms of time theft taking place. Some of them are outlined below:

Time Card Theft

There are multiple ways time card theft can take place. For instance, if an employee fails to show up at work, he asks a colleague to punch them in and out for that particular day. Also known as buddy punching, this act is a serious fraud against company policies.Another form of time card theft at work is when an employee lies about the number of hours he/she spent at work, for a given shift, in a single day.

Prolonged Breaks

This form of time theft occurs when employees take over-extended breaks at work. This can include extending regular lunch breaks. Employees who tend to leave for lunch breaks early or come back late are guilty of this form of time theft.The same holds true for employees who take more breaks in a single shift than they are permitted (under the company policy). Prolonged breaks are easily the most common types of employee time theft at the workplace, across industries.

Too Much Personal Time

It is a common practice for employees to spend most of their time at work taking personal calls and replying to personal messages/emails.They tend to deal personal issues and family situations at work, wasting time and hampering productivity. These non-work related activities form personal time. While in some cases, employees are given certain liberties (if they’re able to manage work at the same time). When this freedom is misused, it leads to time theft. In environments where project deadlines are critical, such as in construction, time theft can severely disrupt workflow. Implementing tools like scheduling software for construction can help manage and monitor employee activities, ensuring that work hours are used efficiently.

Internet Time Theft

Internet time theft is common, yet the most difficult one to detect.That’s because employees tend to use the internet for both, work and non-work related purposes. This can include everything, ranging from regular internet browsing to social networking, and using instant messengers at work.While it is not possible to eliminate time theft from the workplace altogether, but implementing time tracking solutions as a form of corporate policy can help.With Chrometa, businesses can passive record employee time, encouraging them to make productive use of it for overall growth and success.