In May 2019, the Spanish Trade union brought an action before the National High Court. The result of the action was that the European Court of Justice ruled that all EU member State must track their employees working hours. How each individual Member State monitors the working hours is up to the Member State to implement according to their own needs.
Methods of tracking staff time can vary widely from paper to biometrics. It can be difficult to believe but some companies continue to use paper methods to track the working hours of their employees. Biometrics are used for high security industries and cloud-based time tracking is becoming more and more popular. 1Time Tracking is a hassle-free way to monitor time, on demand, on any device.
In the UK Regulation 4 of the 1998 Working Time Regulations states that a worker’s working time, including overtime, should not exceed an average of 48 hours for each seven days over a period of 17 weeks. There are no regulations as how the working hours should be monitored. This is left to the individual company to find the method which is best for them. In the US The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) along with many other state and federal laws, necessitate employers to keep detailed records of hours worked. The hours to be recorded are the date and time that the working week starts for the employee, and the entire number of hours performed during the week. The law in the US is similar to the law in the UK as there is not regulation determining how those hours should be tracked
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into influence across the EU on 25 May 2018. It directly affects employees across Europe. Now that it is mandatory to monitor the working hours of staff, the method of monitoring must comply with GDPR. The General Data Protection Regulation is a regulation which standardizes privacy and data protection for all citizens of each EU Member State. This also includes the European Economic area of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
GDPR in the workplace can be a landmine field of possible infractions. Organizations that are intelligent with how they are tracking their employee’s hours, can avoid common pitfalls associated with GDPR. 1Time Tracking has secure access and individual views. This can protect each employee’s privacy rights. These new regulations are designed to meet the requirements of a digital age and require a change in structural approach towards data privacy.
Implementing a time management software such as 1Time Tracking will benefit your company and help you to stay within any regulatory guideline in your country. 1Time is available online, so no matter where you are located, you can access it anywhere, at any time. So, if you are considering a time tracking software solution, why not try our free 30-day trial 1Time Tracking today.
