Rounding / Exceptions are always an interesting topic. Everyone thinks they understand how to best implement/change the the practices, but seldom does anyone understand the full social impact (the technical side being quite simple.) These configurations in Kronos/eTime determine how people get paid and how attendance is tracked. Some basic terms need to be understood.
Exceptions are flags that alert Supervisors when employees work outside of their assigned shifts. Exceptions serve no other function and they only work with accurate schedules in the system. They appear in the Time card Editor, outlined in red. and also on reports. They indicate missed punches, absences, late punches, and so on.
Rounding rules ensure that pay rules are applied consistently to a group of employees. (Some think that rounding also makes payroll processing more efficient because rounded punches are easier to interpret than real-time punches. Others believe in not using rounding and pay minute to minute.) Rounding is defined using a round and a grace. The round divides an hour into equal increments of time. The grace is the increment after which the punch is rounded forward to the next round increment. You can use interval rounding or punch rounding. Interval rounding rounds the time between an in-punch and an out-punch. Punch rounding rounds the in-punch and the out-punch.
I find it fascinating that 15/7 is still the norm. Think about how paper works and it becomes obvious that it used to be needed for Payroll folk to not go crazy. But now that it's automated why not round 5/0 or perhaps pay minute to minute and not round at all. I'm here, pay me. Payroll doesn't have to ADD anymore! We can now easily separate Pay from Attendance. Use exceptions to handle attendance rules which allow for early/late punches in the way HR policy states.
Anyway, back on topic, 'Interval' rounding was put into the system to handle how some companies had always done it. For them, it was easier to understand. I think most companies that try switching to interval rounding do so with the best of intentions, and then they switch back. The lesson here is never to switch from one entrenched form of rounding to another without serious study of the consequences, cautious rollout and a LOT of communication with the employees from early in the process though the end.
As Kim W noted in Kronos-Fans a while back, "Interval Rounding does not work as typically intended if employees punch for lunch-- that creates two segments for the day and each is rounded separately. Typically, interval rounding is intended to round the entire day to the nearest quarter hour. Kind of only works well for Project View, and even then, if any sort of entry creates another segment in the day, there become two segments rounded separately." I agree that this is not a popular option in the real world.
So here's a thought. Why not have minute to minute during the shift, and using rounding on the outside of the shift? These numbers of course could be any numbers:
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5 min grace for early in / late out. All else minute to minute. Note, if no schedule, all punches would be minute to minute.
Employee scheduled start = 9am, sched out 5pm
Punch in 8:55 - round up to 9am.
Punch in 8:54 or before - no rounding
Punch in at 9:01 - no rounding
Punch out at 5:05 - round back to 5p
Punch out at 4:59 or before - no rounding
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Anyone else have any interesting ways to look at this?