Time clock system including scheduling payroll and productivity analysis capability

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A system of time keeping for hourly employees wherein a plurality of said hourly employees time-in and time-out at a central time clock location when beginning and ending a workshift respectively, a time clock computer located at said location and including input means for entering commands and data, output printer means for printing time certification receipts for an employee, output display means for displaying information to an employee, clock means for maintaining the current time and date and memory means for holding digital data indicative of valid employee codes, the employee name associated with each of said employee codes, valid job codes correlated with employee codes and indicative of what job an employee is scheduled to perform on a work shift and if the job involves the receipt of tips, daily time records of time-in and time-out transactions made by employees at the beginning and end of a work shift and period-to-date time records of period-to-date time-in and time-out transactions recorded by the time clock during a predetermined pay period, said system further including software means operative in said time clock computer for controlling a time-in or time-out transaction, said software means comprising:

(a) means for monitoring said input means to detect and interpret the entry of an employee code and a transaction code by an employee;

(b) means for checking an entered employee code against said valid employee codes;

(c) means for rejecting invalid employee codes and causing said display means to display a message indicative thereof:

(d) means for dating time-in and time-out transactions recorded in daily time records with the current date obtained from said clock means;

(e) time-in routine means responsive to a time-in transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) checking the entered employee code to determine if the employee has a current time-in transaction recorded in a daily time record and aborting the time-in transaction if the employee is currently timed-in;

(ii) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-in time;

(iii) retrieving the employee's name associated with said employee code and displaying said name through said display means;

(iv) creating a daily time record for the employee timing in and recording in said daily time record said time-in time;

(v) storing said daily time record in said memory means; and

(f) time-out routine means responsive to a time-out transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) checking for a corresponding daily time-in transaction in a daily time record for the employee and aborting the time-out transaction if there is no daily time record indicating the employee has timed-in;

(ii) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-out time;

(iii) recording said time-out time in the daily time record of the employees created when said employee timed-in; and

(iv) determining whether the job the employee is timing-out for involved tips as indicated in said job code data;

(v) prompting the employee to enter the amount of tips received during the time they were working if it is determined that the job worked involved tips;

(vi) recording the entered amount in the employee's daily time record;

(vii) printing with said printer means a certification receipt for the employee timing out, said receipt including a record of the time-in and time-out times recorded in the daily time record and the time-in and time-out times recorded in the period-to-date record for the employee timing out, the date of said time-in and time-out transactions in said records also being indicated on said receipt so that said printed certification receipt provides a period-to-date summary of time transactions for the employee; and

(g) said system further including communication means for transferring at least said daily time records in digital form to a payroll computer.

2. A system of time keeping for hourly employees wherein a plurality of said hourly employees time-in and time-out at a central time clock location when beginning and ending a workshift respectively, a time clock computer located at said location and including input means for entering commands and data, output printer means for printing time certification receipts for an employee, output display means for displaying information to an employee, clock means for maintaining the current time and date and memory means for holding digital data indicative of valid employee codes, the employee name associated with each of said employee codes, the scheduled times for scheduled employees, daily time records of time-in and time-out transactions made by employees at the beginning and end of a work shift and period-to date time records of period-to-date time-in and time-out transactions recorded by the time clock during a predetermined pay period, said system further including software means operative in said time clock computer for controlling a time-in or time-out transaction, said software means comprising:

(a) means for monitoring said input, means to detect and interpret the entry of an employee code and a transaction code by an employee;

(b) means for checking an entered employee code against said valid employee codes;

(c) means for rejecting invalid employee codes and causing said display means to display a message indicative thereof;

(d) means for dating time-in and time-out transactions recorded in daily time records with the current date obtained from said clock means;

(e) time-in routine means responsive to a time-in transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) checking the entered employee code to determine if the employee has a current time-in transaction recorded in a daily time record and aborting the time-in transaction if the employee is currently timed-in;

(ii) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-in time;

(iii) retrieving the employee's name associated with said employee code and displaying said name through said display means;

(iv) verifying that an employee attempting to perform a time-in transaction is scheduled to work at said time-in time; and

(v) aborting said time-in transaction if the employee is not scheduled to work;

(vi) creating a daily time record for the employee timing in and recording in said daily time record said time-in time; and

(vii) storing said daily time record in said memory means; and

(f) time-out routine means responsive to a time-out transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) checking for a corresponding daily time-in transaction in a daily time record for the employee and aborting the time-out transaction if there is no daily time record indicating the employee has timed-in;

(ii) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-out time;

(iii) recording said time-out time in the daily time record of the employee created when said employee timed-in; and

(iv) printing with said printer means a certification receipt for the employee timing out, said receipt including a record of the time-in and time-out times recorded in the daily time record and the time-in and time-out times recorded in the period-to-date record for the employee timing out, the date of said time-in and time-out transactions in said records also being indicated on said receipt so that said printed certification receipt provides a period-to-date summary of time transactions for the employee; and

(g) said system further including communication means for transferring at least said daily time records in digital form to a payroll computer.

3. The cardless system according to claim 2 further including:

a scheduling computer remote from said time clock computer;

communication means connected between said scheduling computer and said time clock computer for transferring data therebetween;

schedule software means operative in said scheduling computer for generating employee work schedules specifying the times each employee is scheduled to work in digital schedule data form in response to user instructions;

communications software means operative in said time clock computer and said scheduling computer for coordinating the transfer of said schedule data from said scheduling computer to said time clock memory means through said communication means, said communications software means including means operative in said scheduling computer for receiving a transfer of daily time records from said time clock computer via said communication means;

time record file analysis software means operative on said scheduling computer to provide a report in digital data form indicative of the total hours worked by each employee as recorded by said time clock whereby payroll may be prepared from said report.

4. The cardless system according to claim 3 wherein said scheduling computer further includes productivity analysis software means operative on said scheduling computer to provide a report indicative of employee productivity as measured by comparing hours worked against a unit of worked performed, said productivity analysis software means including:

(a) data entry means for receiving data indicative of the units of work performed by individual employees during a predetermined period of time and assembling a performance file including a record for each employee; and

(b) analysis means for comparing the time worked indicated in the time records for an employee during said predetermined period of time against the corresponding performance file for an employee and generating a report indicative of the units of work per hour worked for each individual employee.

5. A system of time keeping for hourly employees wherein a plurality of said hourly employees time-in and time-out at a central time clock location when beginning and ending a workshift respectively, a time clock computer located at said location and including input means for entering commands and data, output printer means for printing time certification receipts for an employee, output display means for displaying information to an employee, clock means for maintaining the current time and date and memory means for holding digital data indicative of valid employee codes, the employee name associated with each of said employee codes, valid job codes indicative of what job an employee is scheduled to perform on a work shift, daily time records of time-in and time-out transactions made by employees at the beginning and end of a work shift and period-to-date time records of period-to-date time-in and time-out transactions recorded by the time clock during a predetermined pay period, said system further including software means operative in said time clock computer for controlling a time-in or time-out transaction, said software means comprising:

(a) means for monitoring said input means to detect and interpret the entry of an employee code and a transaction code by an employee;

(b) means for checking an entered employee code against said valid employee codes;

(c) means for rejecting invalid employee codes and causing said display means to display a message indicative thereof;

(d) means for dating time-in and time-out transactions recorded in daily time records with the current date obtained from said clock means;

(e) time-in routine means responsive to a time-in transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) checking the entered employee code to determine if the employee has a current time-in transaction recorded in a daily time record and aborting the time-in transaction if the employee is currently timed-in;

(ii) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-in time;

(iii) retrieving the employee's name associated with said employee code and displaying said name through said display means;

(iv) prompting with said display means for a job code indicative of the job to be performed by the employee;

(v) getting a job code entered through said keyboard means by the employee;

(vi) comparing the entered job code against the valid job code associated with the scheduled job and indicating a discrepancy to the employee if the codes do not match;

(vii) creating a daily time record for the employee timing in and recording in said daily time record said time-in time;

(viii) storing said daily time record in said memory means; and

(f) time-out routine means responsive to a time-out transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) checking for a corresponding daily time-in transaction in a daily time record for the employee and aborting the time-out transaction if there is no daily time record indicating the employee has timed-in;

(ii) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-out time;

(iii) recording said time-out time in the daily time record of the employee created when said employee timed-in; and

(iv) printing with said printer means a certification receipt for the employee timing out, said receipt including a record of the time-in and time-out times recorded in the daily time record and the time-in and time-out times recorded in the period-to-date record for the employee timing out, the date of said time-in and time-out transactions in said records also being indicated on said receipt so that said printed certification receipt provides a period-to-date summary of time transactions for the employee; and

(g) said system further including communication means for transferring at least said daily time records in digital form to a payroll computer.

6. A system of time keeping for hourly employees wherein a plurality of said hourly employees time-in and time-out at a central time clock location when beginning and ending a workshift respectively, a time clock computer located at said location and including input means for entering commands and data, output printer means for printing time certification receipts for an employee, output display means for displaying information to an employee, clock means for maintaining the current time and date and storage means for holding valid job codes correlated with employee codes and indicative of what job an employee is scheduled to perform on a work shift and if the job involves the receipt of tips, daily time records of time-in and time-out transactions made by employees at the beginning and end of a work shift and period-to-date time records of period-to-date time-in and time-out transactions recorded by the time clock during a predetermined pay period, said time clock computer further including:

(a) means for monitoring said input means to detect and interpret the entry of an employee code and a transaction code by an employee;

(b) means for dating time-in and time-out transactions recorded in daily time records with the current date obtained from said clock means;

(c) time-in means responsive to a time-in transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-in time;

(ii) creating a daily time record for the employee timing in and recording in a daily time record for the employee said time-in time;

(iii) storing said daily time record in said storage means; and

(d) time-out means responsive to a time-out transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-out time;

(ii) recording said time-out time in the daily time record of the employee;

(iii) determining whether the job the employee is timing out for involved tips as indicated in said job code data;

(iv) prompting the employee to enter the amount of tips received during the time they were working if it is determined that the job worked involved tips; and

(v) recording the entered amount in the employee's daily time record; and

(e) said time clock computer further including means for causing said printer means to print a certification receipt for the employee timing out, said receipt including a record of the time-in and time-out times recorded in the daily time record and/or the time-in and time-out times recorded in the period-to-date record for the employee timing out, the date of said time-in and time-out transactions in said records also being indicated on said receipt so that said printed certification receipt provides a receipt of time transactions for the employee; and

(f) said system further including communication means for transferring at least said daily time records from said storage means to a payroll computer.

7. A system of time keeping for hourly employees wherein a plurality of said hourly employees time-in and time-out at a central time clock location when beginning and ending a workshift respectively, a time clock computer located at said location and including input means for entering commands and data, output printer means for printing time certification receipts for an employee, output display means for displaying information to an employee, clock means for maintaining the current time and date and storage means for holding the scheduled times for scheduled employees, daily time records of time-in and time-out transactions made by employees at the beginning and end of a work shift and period-to-date time records of period-to-date time-in and time-out transactions recorded by the time clock during a predetermined pay period, said time clock computer further including:

(a) means for monitoring said input means to detect and interpret the entry of an employee code and a transaction code by an employee;

(b) means for dating time-in and time-out transactions recorded in daily time records with the current date obtained from said clock means;

(c) time-in means responsive to a time-in transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-in time;

(ii) verifying that an employee attempting to perform a time-in transaction is scheduled to begin work at said time-in time;

(iii) preventing said time-in transaction if the employee is not scheduled to begin work at said time-in time;

(iv) creating a daily time record for the employee timing in and recording in a daily time record for the employee said time-in time;

(v) storing said daily time record in said storage means; and

(d) time-out means responsive to a time-out transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-out time;

(ii) recording said time-out time in the daily time record of the employee;

(e) said time clock computer further including means for causing said printer means to print a certification receipt for the employee timing out, said receipt including a record of the time-in and time-out times recorded in the daily time record and/or the time-in and time-out times recorded in the period-to-date record for the employee timing out, the date of said time-in and time-out transactions in said records also being indicated on said receipt so that said printed certification receipt provides a receipt of time transactions for the employee; and

(f) said system further including communication means for transferring at least said daily time records from said storage means to a payroll computer.

8. The system according to claim 7 wherein said time clock computer further includes manager control means activated by entry of manager password code at said input means for performing the steps of:

(a) acquiring a manually entered, time-in time, time-out time, and employee code from said input means;

(b) using said entered times and employee code to create or alter schedule data so that a manager can create or alter schedule data at said time clock computer.

9. A system of time keeping for hourly employees wherein a plurality of said hourly employees time-in and time-out at a central time clock location when beginning and ending a workshift respectively, a time clock computer located at said location and including input means for entering commands and data, output printer means for printing time certification receipts for an employee, output display means for displaying information to an employee, clock means for maintaining the current time and date and storage means for holding valid job codes indicative of what job an employee is scheduled to perform on a work shift, daily time records of time-in and time-out transactions made by employees at the beginning and end of a work shift and period-to-date time records of period-to-date time-in and time-out transactions recorded by the time clock during a predetermined pay period, said time clock computer further including:

(a) means for monitoring said input means to detect and interpret the entry of an employee code and a transaction code by an employee;

(b) means for dating time-in and time-out transactions recorded in daily time records with the current date obtained from said clock means;

(c) time-in means responsive to a time-in transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-in time;

(ii) prompting with said display means for a job code indicative of the job to be performed by the employee;

(iii) getting a job code entered through said input means by the employee;

(iv) comparing the entered job code against the valid job code associated with the scheduled job and indicating a discrepancy to the employee if the codes do not match;

(v) creating a daily time record for the employee timing in and recording in a daily time record for the employee said time-in time;

(vi) storing said daily time record in said storage means; and

(d) time-out means responsive to a time-out transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-out time;

(ii) recording said time-out time in the daily time record of the employee;

(e) said time clock computer further including means for causing said printer means to print a certification receipt for the employee timing out, said receipt including a record of the time-in and time-out times recorded in the daily time record and/or the time-in and time-out times recorded in the period-to-date record for the employee timing out, the date of said time-in and time-out transactions in said records also being indicated on said receipt so that said printed certification receipt provides a receipt of time transactions for the employee; and

(f) said system further including communication means for transferring at least said daily time records from said storage means to a payroll computer.

10. A system of time keeping for hourly employees wherein a plurality of said hourly employees time-in and time-out at a central time clock location when beginning and ending a workshift respectively, a time clock computer located at said location and including input means for entering commands and data, output printer means for printing time certification receipts for an employee, output display means for displaying information to an employee, clock means for maintaining the current time and date and storage means for holding the scheduled times for scheduled employees, daily time records of time-in and time-out transactions made by employees at the beginning and end of a work shift and period-to-date time records of period-to-date time-in and time-out transactions recorded by the time clock during a predetermined pay period, said time clock computer further including:

(a) means for monitoring said input means to detect and interpret the entry of an employee code and a transaction code by an employee;

(b) means for dating time-in and time-out transactions recorded in daily time records with the current date obtained from said clock means;

(c) time-in means responsive to a time-in transaction code for performing the steps of:

(i) reading the current time from said clock means to provide a time-in time;

(ii) creating a daily time record for the employee timing in and recording in a daily time record for the employee said time-in time;

(iii) storing said daily time record in said storage means; and

(d) time-out means responsive to a time-out transaction code for p