Managing Unauthorized Overtime Pay: Techniques for Mitigating Abuse of the System

Managing Unauthorized Overtime Pay: Techniques for Mitigating Abuse of the System

As firms look to manage costs, unauthorized overtime can present a difficult challenge. Updated labor laws in the UAE require the addition of at least 25 percent of the hourly wage rate and can go up to 50 percent if the time worked is between 9 pm and 4 am.

Balancing the benefits of overtime with the costs is difficult for a business of any size. While authorized overtime can be helpful during crunch times and emergencies, regular unauthorized overtime might suggest abuse of the system.

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at what constitutes unauthorized overtime, followed by strategies to combat it.

What Constitutes Unauthorized Overtime?

Unauthorized overtime can be divided into three main categories:

• Traffic-beaters. These employees either come to work early and/or stay late to avoid the office traffic. They claim additional hours, even though the work could be completed in the regular time. Unless the company allows this by policy, this is unauthorized.
• Work at home. Some employees take a small part of their work home with them, such as answering emails or planning their schedule for the next day. This is also not generally allowed in overtime.

Non-requested.This is when an employee works longer hours without the request of their supervisor. Regardless of whether this is due to inefficiency or overload, the work falls in the unauthorized category.

How to Prevent Costly Overtime?

The following are some strategies you can implement to mitigate costly unauthorized pay:

• Official policy. The first step to manage this problem is by developing a comprehensive and well-documented set of guidelines regarding overtime. The less ambiguity, the better.

Make sure to include the number of hours employees are required to stay, the process of pre-approving overtime, and the maximum number of hours of overtime per week. It should also include the company’s stance on how to deal with employees that misuse the overtime pay system.

• Good management is the key to ensuring employees stay productive throughout the day and aren’t getting overwhelmed by excessive workloads. Planning project needs and determining required people beforehand can prevent overtime towards the end of the project deadline or the month.
• Accurate records. Outdated time tracking strategies, such as manual timesheets and punch cards can be easily manipulated. Instead, look for modern solutions that allow managers to monitor attendance more accurately.

How Can Time Attendance Management Software Help?

A time attendance software is an excellent solution to minimize errors in employee time tracking and maintain highly accurate attendance records. When combined with cutting-edge technology, such as fingerprint scanners, facial recognition cameras, and thermal recognition CCTV cameras, it only gets better.

To meet the needs of businesses with increasingly mobile workforces, we’ve also launched an e-attendance solution that allows employee attendance data to be captured with geo-location. Enjoy easy attendance tracking anywhere and at any time.

For more information, reach out to our experts today.