• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • File a Report
  • Check Report
  • Client Login

Red Flag Reporting

Protecting Organizations & Their People

  • Home
  • About RFR
    • Our Team and Expertise
    • Who Do We Help?
    • Published Articles
  • Services
    • Hotline Service
    • Compliance Services
  • Benefits
    • Protect Employees
    • Protect Your Reputation
    • Protect Your Bottom Line
    • Manage Cases with Ease
  • Blog
  • Get Started
    • FAQ
    • Request a Demo or Quote
  • Contact Us

October 16, 2020

Time Theft and the Remote Workplace

Share on LinkedIn Share
Share on Facebook Share
Share on TwitterTweet

Time theft is a very common form of fraud in the workplace. It is both discrete and easy for employees to justify, but this doesn’t make it any less of a problem. What may seem to be a few minutes here and there can result in major losses for employers. According to a Software Advice study, 43% of hourly workers admit to exaggerating work time during shifts. Furthermore, in the book, Biting the Hand That Feeds You, Terrance Shulman cites evidence that time theft costs employers more than $400 billion per year in the U.S. alone! What constitutes time theft, and how can it be prevented in the ever-expanding remote workplace?

One form of time theft involves altering “clock-in” or “clock-out” times to create the appearance that an employee was working longer than they truly were. In some cases, employees have the ability to alter their own time records, while in others, they may need to rely on a coworker. The latter, called “buddy punching,” involves a coworker altering time records on behalf of a friend who is getting a late start or finishing the workday early. Employees may alter their time records to make more money or to avoid punishment for arriving late or leaving early for an unexcused reason.

Time theft can also occur in the middle of the workday through extended breaks, non-work-related conversations, and personal activities. While 100% efficiency and on task behavior may be unreasonable, chronically allowing lunch break conversations to bleed into worktime, making personal phone calls, or online shopping instead of working on the computer are clearly unacceptable practices. It is hard to argue that if you are being paid for working during a timeframe, you should be working during said timeframe!

With increased working from home comes decreased ability to monitor on-task behavior during the workday. For this reason, employers need to ensure that employees understand expectations and accurately track their time. Expectations for breaks, attendance, timeliness, personal activities, and time tracking should be explicitly discussed in video conferences and in online employee handbooks or documents. In addition, organizations should implement the use of time tracking software so that employees are held accountable for the time for which they are being paid. Finally, as with all types of fraud, the use of a whistleblowing hotline such as Red Flag Reporting can help uncover cases of time theft before they become out of hand. Time theft is a significant problem that often goes unnoticed. Thankfully there are relatively easy precautions to safeguard organizations.

Share on LinkedIn Share
Share on Facebook Share
Share on TwitterTweet

Filed Under: Fraud Prevention, Fraud Reporting

We are Red Flag Reporting

We offer ethics, safety and fraud hotline / case management solutions to our clients via the web, over the phone and through other methods. Trusted by organizations large and small in 50 countries, we can help you!

We are an Ethics Hotline Service Provider
Find Out More  Get a Quote

Primary Sidebar

Hotline and Web Portal

We are an Ethics Hotline Service Provider

Get a Quote

We offer ethics, safety and fraud hotline / case management solutions to our clients via the web, over the phone and through other methods. Trusted by organizations large and small in 50 countries, we can help you!

OSHA Publishes Interim Final Rule for Addressing Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Complaints

The interim final rule, which became effective on …

[Read Article...] about OSHA Publishes Interim Final Rule for Addressing Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Complaints

Mastering the Zoom Apology

Note: This article is provided by fellow Akros …

[Read Article...] about Mastering the Zoom Apology

Watch Out for AI-Assisted Fraud

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a type of …

[Read Article...] about Watch Out for AI-Assisted Fraud

Footer

Follow Along

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Red Flag Reporting

Red Flag Reporting provides compliance and ethics hotline services and case management software solutions to organizations seeking to promote safe and ethical behavior.

Reach Us

Red Flag Reporting
P.O. Box 4230, Akron, Ohio 44321
Contact Us

(Sales Office only – not a reporting line)
Tel: 877-676-6551
Fax: 330-572-8146

NOTE: Red Flag Reporting services are available for purchase by organizations only. We do not sell or provide our services to individual people.

  

 

Copyright © 2023 Red Flag Reporting all rights reserved. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective holders.

  • Red Flag Reporting – Ethics, Fraud and Whistleblower Hotline Service
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy