The Friday Tip - page 4
Once a week we highlight some unique and useful feature provided by the People Inc. system in our 'Friday Tip'. These tips are often based on a support call that we took during the week. Our aim is to help customers get more from using their People Inc. system. If you do not receive these tips but would like to, please contact the People Inc. help desk and ask to be added to the mailing list.
Working Time Directive
17th November 2023
People Inc has numerous ways to assist you in complying with the working time directive, ranging from flexible working forms and timesheets to full on time and attendance tracking. Some examples of these can be found below:
- Recording attendance information
- Managing participation opt in / opt out
- Monitoring mandatory work breaks
If you would like a session to discuss the options available to you or would like an introduction to the possibilities, please do get in touch.
Opting Out of the Working Time Directive
10th November 2023
The People Inc. ESS can be used to publish a full range of on-line forms. Common examples of this include a clothing request form, a flexible working request form, a holiday request form, a training feedback form, an ideas and suggestions form, and an expense-claim form.
Providing a facility that staff can use to opt-out (and also opt back in) is a key requirement of the Working Time Directive legislation. Using a custom form added to the ESS is a quick and effective way for organisations to do this. Users can then check to see who has opted-out, and who is opted-in (and this information can then be used when checking attendance records).
Mandatory Breaks from Work
3rd November 2023
As part of the Working Time Directive, employers must ensure that staff are given adequate time away from work. The legislation makes provision for 4 different types of break.
- Employees have the right to a 20-minute rest break when they work more than 6 hours.
- They are entitled to an 11-hour break between the end and start of a new shift on consecutive days.
- Each week they should have a 24-hour period away from work.
- Staff are entitled to the equivalent of 5.6 weeks paid leave each year.
People inc. is the ideal tool to manage and monitor breaks. It will also provide detailed records to help demonstrate WTD compliance.
Timekeeping within People Inc
27th October 2023
Recording attendance using timesheets is a simple way to capture the hours worked by employees. Two different timesheet tools are available to People Inc. users:
- Individual timesheets, completed by each member of staff.
- A weekly or monthly timesheet, completed by a manager.
Using People Inc. to manage timesheets streamlines the data-collection process and makes it much easier to monitor attendance. The information can then be used to feed payroll, and to assist with compliance and reporting. More details can be found here.
Recording Attendance Information
20th October 2023
Did you know that People Inc. provides a variety of different ways to record details of the hours worked by employees?
Users can build a staff roster within the system and then collect comprehensive information about staff attendance (and an breaks they have taken) by asking employees to clock-in (either using their phone or via wall-mounted clocks).
Without detailed attendance records it is difficult to demonstrate compliance with the Working Time Directive. One of the key requirements of this piece of employment legislation is that organisations monitor the hours staff work and the breaks they take.
The Working Time Directive
13th October 2023
People Inc. can be used to manage information to help demonstrate compliance with the Working Time Directive. It is possible to record and monitor the hours worked by individual members of staff, ensure that staff are given sufficient leave (holiday), and ensure that suitable breaks are taken during the day (and that sufficient time is provided between shifts).
The system can also be used to make sure that every employee gets at least one day away from work each week, and that the rules for night workers and young people are respected.
Where staff opt-out of the Working Time Directive, the system is an ideal tool to record and manage this information.
Rosters and Attendance in 2024
6th October 2023
If you use People Inc. time to manage attendance, a couple of things need to be set up within the system at around this time of year:
- Pay Periods are used for reporting purposes (and to extract payroll information); these are likely to need adding for 2023
- Shift Patterns enable the system to manage attendance records and calculate adjustments; now is a good time to review Jan-Mar 2023.
Tools are provided to help users update both of these things in bulk (across a number of months, or for the whole year). Note that this is in addition to the registration of Bank holidays (which is required for all People Inc. systems).
Absence Year-End
29th September 2023
There are a number of important absence-related task that need to be scheduled at around this time of year. These include:
- A review of unused leave (to avoid a flood of bookings in December)
- Agree and communicate any changes to rules on carry-over of leave
- Add 2024 allowances and bank holidays
- Manage shutdown and staff availability during the festive break
- Reconcile and close 2023 holiday allowances (and review carry over)
There are some additional things to think about if you use People Inc. time (our Time & Attendance module).
More information about this process: Absence Year End
Document Management Overview
22nd September 2023
Whether you are just keeping basic employee documentation or are maintaining a details history of documentation and identification forms People Inc can assist. There are a number of ways that the system can help with the following:
- Keeping a history of communication documentation
- Managing and distributing Policy Documentation
- Managing and storing employee details and employee documents
If you would like a session to discuss the options available to you or would like an introduction to the possibilities, please do get in touch.
Managing Attached Documents
15th September 2023
A full range of employee-related documents can be stored against individual records within the People Inc. system. This might include letters and e-mail, copies of personal documents (passport, CV, driving licence, etc.) copies of certificates and qualifications, photographs, and copies of completed forms.
Holding documents centrally and securely protects personal information, provides controlled access for authorised staff, and helps with GDPR compliance. Where different types of documents are recorded for each employee, it is possible to add folders that contain each of the categories of document. This is particularly effective if access is shared with users via the ESS.
Easy Access to HR Policies
8th September 2023
The People Inc. system can be used to manage and monitor access to HR Policy documents. Provided as an ESS add-on, this feature is designed to publish a list of policy documents per employee (based on their role). Employees can access the policy documents direct from the list, and the indicate that they have read and understood each one.
Full sign-off details are recorded for each employee and these records can be reviewed on-screen or analysed using reports. Members of staff are notified via automated e-mail if a new policy (or a new version of an existing policy) is added to the system.
Generating and Managing Documents
1st September 2023
The People Inc. system can be used to create and store letters (and e-mails) sent to employees. There are around 160 letter templates supplied with system. Letter templates are used to generate and distribute letters (to members of staff).
Users can modify the letter templates and they can include information from records held within People Inc. Users can also create new letter templates of their own. Letter templates can be set up so that they match standard letters used by the organisation.
Letters can be printed or attached to employee records (so that they can be accessed by the employee via their ESS login), or both.
Recruitment Training Session
25th August 2023
Whether you are using the web recruitment portal or just recording applicants manually within the system there are quite a few ways the system can help simplify the process for you.
- Letter templates
- Reporting suite
- Recruitment tools
- Web recruitment
If you would like a session to discuss the options available to you or would like an introduction to the recruitment possibilities, please do get in touch.
Web Recruitment
18th August 2023
In addition to recording information about your current vacancies the People Inc system can also provide a space for perspective applicants to apply.
For each vacancy within the system, you can choose whether you would like to publish this to the web or not. From there you can choose what information applicants will need to provide and what attachments they need. Any applications that come through the web portal will then immediately be added as applicants within the system, instantly giving you the needed information.
Managing Applicants
11th August 2023
Are you aware of the ways that People Inc can help manage applicants?
To help with the recruitment process the People Inc system has several tools available to help with the recruitment process. The manage applicant wizard allows you to bulk move people through your recruitment process. Looking to send bulk emails to the applicants or maybe you have selected your successful applicant and want to close off the remaining applicants. This wizard can go through and do this for you.
Line-Managers and Recruitment
4th August 2023
Line managers can use their ESS login to raise a request to recruit. This can then be signed off (authorised) by a senior manager, a director and HR before the search for candidates begins.
In time, with details of applicants registered against the vacancy, line managers can review their CVs and other information once again via their ESS login. By adding comments and where appropriate, a recommendation to shortlist the line-manager can contribute their expertise and preferences before interviews are arranged.
Managing Vacancies
28th July 2023
Did you know that you can manage vacancies from within your People Inc system?
For all the vacancies within the system you can track, export and report on the information. Wanting to track key dates for your vacancies, manage email communication? Looking for details on the common source of applicants for your roles, turnover for specific departments? All that information and more can be easily managed and extracted from the system.
An Introduction to training management
21st July 2023
Unsure on how to take advantage of the training management tools available to you? Do not worry we frequently run sessions to help users get the most out of their system. Some examples of topics are:
- Managing & Automating Training Needs
- Managing training information
- Reporting on training records
- Training Registration
Please do get in touch if you would like any assistance in managing the training information within your system.
Training Administration
14th July 2023
Where employees need training to help them in their role at work (training related to a product, a process, or some legislation, etc.), People Inc. can be used to manage delegate bookings course-by-course.
The system will list members of staff who need to attend a particular course, users can then make individual bookings (and send confirmation via e-mail or letter), send reminders as the course date approaches and update their records once the course has run.
When users manage delegate information from the perspective of a course, the system also keeps individual employee training records up-to-date. Click here for more information on managing staff training records.
Register Training Needs and Completed Training
7th July 2023
Full details of both training needs and completed training can be recorded for employees within the People Inc. system. The ESS training registration feature is used to update these records; it can work in two different ways.
Line-managers can use the feature to request that an employee attends a particular training course. Those responsible for managing staff training can then review requests and book training courses as required.
Where employees have been asked to complete unsupervised training to support their activities at work, the feature provides them with an easy way to record details of the training modules/courses that they have completed.
More details can be found here, or please call us to discuss what is possible.
