Hey, why do we bother using punch rounding when interval rounding is so much easier to understand?
What’s the difference? Interval rounding is the rounding of the total elapsed time between the actual in-punch and the actual out-punch. Punch rounding is the elapsed time between the rounded in-punch and the rounded out-punch. Basically, interval rounding uses the actual punches to get a total amount of time, and rounds that total. Punch rounding rounds the punches first, then provides the total amount of time.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
Where and how the round takes place is your decision. I know it is different from how most organizations use Kronos now, but it is really easy. You may not know it, but some interval rounding is already used in the Kronos timecard!
Everyone who punches in and out for lunch has their meal period rounded with interval rounding. Kronos Workforce Timekeeper does not round the individual meal punches and then calculate the meal length, it looks at the entire length of time that the employee was off the clock and rounds that amount of time. To figure out your daily shift total, Timekeeper uses punch rounding to come up with a daily total and then subtracts the meal period out.
We accept this method of timecard calculation but it’s something that we have to explain, especially when people first convert off of manual paper time-cards. Each time an employee would calculate their timecard on a piece of paper, they would round the punches, then calculate the elapsed time from their rounded in-punch to the rounded meal out, and then from the rounded meal return to the rounded out-punch for the day. When they compared their total to that of the timecard, it would not match and they would proceed to the payroll office to inquire (nice word).
Note - In recent versions of Kronos Workforce Timekeeper this meal interval is configurable. You can now actually change the way the totalizer totalizes (read “system calculates”) the meal and force it to calculate the way the employee expected it to in the above scenario.
Rounding rules have been misunderstood by employees since Kronos first configured them. Probably sooner, but I wasn’t there to witness it. The teaching of rounding rules to employees is something commonly left to a trainer, however, regardless of the rounding rules in your organization; the rules selected must work for the organization (including any union presence) and must be understood by it's employees. What rule works for you? Do you like simple? Something that is more representative of actual time? Do you want consistency in rules, or rules that change depending if the shift was scheduled or not. The point is, we can’t answer this type of question here, but we can answer it with a thorough discovery process. One thing I can tell you for sure is not to change the current embedded rounding rules without performing a careful study. There are lots of things attached to the rounding rules. Attendance policies, exception marks, and company policies all influence your decision. Even after you analyze how the changes may affect the bottom line; realize that employee’s punch behavior will change, right after the rules are posted.