Workforce Management Blog

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The TimeTECH Team

Biometric devices record payroll hours quickly and accurately. These biometric systems ensure that payroll information is transmitted correctly to the payroll / hr department and the exact time worked, including overtime, is recorded properly. In some cases, companies that are implementing a biometric system will encounter employee resistance, with the issues of privacy concerns.

Most times, privacy concerns are raised if a union is involved and are looking for negotiating points. On the other hand, when they dig deeper into the concerns of their employees, companies report the only real problem with the new biometric system is that, “it’s new” Confusion and concern are eliminated if the employees are educated before announcement of a new system. Once employees start to use the system, and see how easy it is to use, they will prefer it to the old alternative methods.

Biometric readings are private:

People confuse biometric time and attendance systems with the biometric systems they see on television crime shows. When considering the privacy concerns associated with biometrics, an important distinction must be made between identification a one-to-many match and authentication, a one-to-one match. It’s vital that employees understand the difference.

A system designed to identify a person compares a biometric presented by a person against all biometric samples stored in the database. The system identifies the individual if the person matches a “one-to-many” match. This system is used by police and other agencies to find criminals. This is the system that is seen on television crime shows like A&E’s The First 48 or crime drama like CSI.

The authentication process used in time and attendance practices is quite different, and involves a one-to-one search. The live biometric presented by an employee is compared to a stored sample previously given by that employee at the time of enrollment and confirmed. The hand geometry or fingerprint of the user is not stored in a database or on an ID card. Instead, a mathematical equation (or algorithm) is created with points measured on the finger or hand. The template that results from this equation is all that is stored.

When an employee clocks in, the reader will check the algorithm stored, and either authenticate or deny he/she when clocking in. No fingerprints or hand geometrics are stored.

If you have any questions on how your privacy is protected by our systems, please contact us at 1-877-816-TIME (8463) or visit www.timetech.ca and send us an email.

**Source – PayTECH Magazine 2009 – Time and Attendance Special Issue (Official magazine of the American Payroll Association) www.payroll.ca