Difference between revisions of "Client Set-Up Guide"

Revision as of 16:53, 8 March 2012

Getting Started

Welcome to TimeMD! No doubt your here because you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed and not sure what to do next with your new time tracking software. Rest assured, we're here to help. In this section you should find everything you need to know to make the transition as painless as possible.

First Time Users

If you're logging into your account for the first time or haven't yet completed the set-up process, you should have been taken to the "Preferences" screen. On this screen you'll find access to both the required sections for set-up as well as the optional sections. The required sections are listed on the left hand side while the optional sections have been listed on the right. The difference between the two is that your account will not be considered ready for use until all the required sections have been completed.

Preferences

Below you will find a list of all the Preferences available to you. Now depending on which licensing option you have signed up with will determine if you see certain sections or not.

General Account Info

The General Account Information page allows you to set up and define certain types of information unique to your business or organization. Information like contact information (first and last name, e-mail address, phone number, etc...), login settings and branding can be found in this area.

Time Tracking Settings

This is where you can define settings related to your time tracking needs. Settings such as flagging time entries, authorizing terminals for time tracking, physical time clock settings, etc.

Holidays/Events

The Holiday/Events section of the site allows you to define certain dates that may require certain actions when it comes to scheduling and time tracking. Perhaps your business is closed during certain dates. This section will allow you to define what dates your business is closed and will therefore not include them when creating a schedule. It also allows you to define if your personnel should be paid holiday hours on certain dates.

Another common use for this section would be to define certain dates your personnel may not request off helping to eliminate any potential unfairness.

The dates you specify may either repeat on the exact date each year or you can define one-time only event. These are event that will only occur one time ever such as company parties, BBQ's, etc. Either way, you have the availability to define as many dates as you like.

Day Off Accrual Rules

This is where you can define the different accrual rules your company recognizes.

Pay Groups

This is where you define rules that relate to information critical to calculating overtime. This includes settings such as workweeks, overtime rules, when your work day starts, etc.

Rounding Rules

If you need your time punches to be rounded, this is where you would define the rules for that rounding. Keep in mind it isn't generally considered good practice to use rounding. Be sure that if you implement rounding, it is done fairly and equally. Otherwise the fines issued by the Department of Labor due to unfair rounding practices can be very severe. Being said, you have the option to define as many rounding rules as you need.

Locations

Locations are the physical address your personnel are working. It may be called something different from within your organization. We use the term "Locations" as our default reference. It could also be the Location they would report too in order to fulfill shifts.

For each Location you will also have the ability to define departments as well as what shifts are needed for those departments. Again, we use the term departments however your organization may recognize a different term.

Departments

Departments are ways to categorize your personnel from within each Location. Please note that your organization may refer to departments differently. If so, let us know and we will configure your account to reflect the proper terminology.

NOTE: In order to begin entering Departments, you must have entered at least one Location. Also note that all time entries must be associated to a personnel as well as too a department.

Shifts

Shifts are segments of time that require one or more personnel to work during that defined period. This information is critical to the Scheduler in its process to develop the most accurate schedule possible.

For your convenience, you can set the shift to repeat each day of the week if you like or even day on, day off. It's totally up to you.

Personnel/Employees

Personnel are those individuals you wish to either track time or grant access to TimeMD. From the personnel set up pages you have the ability to keep track of all your personnel's contact information as well as set up specific limitations to his/her account. Note that anyone who requires to track time or needs access to TimeMD should be set-up with their own account.

Time Clocks

If you elect to use a physical wall clock from one of our hardware vendors, this is where you would set-up some of the parameters necessary for it's functionality. If you choose to not to use a physical time clock, you do not need to set-up this area.

Pay Codes

This is where you can find all the pay codes that have been set-up with your account. If you find one is missing, please contact your TimeMD.com representative for assistance in setting it up.

Skills

If your organization requires certifications, licenses, and/or qualifications to remain current with your employees, then our Skills modules is a great way to help you with that. Simply enter the name of the skill in the Skills section. Then in the Personnel section, you can associate skills to your employees and specify when they expire. You can then set yourself and the employee in question with reminders that will notify both of you prior to the skills expiration date.

Jobs

Jobs are used as a convenient way to track employee time against certain Jobs. It can also be used as a way to pay out different rates based upon what Job or task is being worked. Please note the title "jobs" can be changed to read whatever you wish.

Tasks

Tasks are used as a convenient way to track employee time against certain tasks. Please note the title "tasks" can be changed to read whatever you wish.

Manager Groups

Manager Groups is the first area you are required to set-up if you wish to have managers/supervisors accessing your account. Simply define a manager group and the permissions associated with it. Once a group has been set-up, you can associate managers to the group. This allows you to have multiple personnel associated to a group without having to set-up different permissions for every manager.

Managers

This is where you can specify who has manager access to your account. You can either set-up unique manager accounts for the applicable personnel or you can set-up hybrid employee/manager accounts allowing your personnel to use a single login to access both their manager and employee dashboards.

If you wish to set-up a hybrid account then the personnel in question must first have an employee account. From within the employee input screen look for the checkbox labeled, "Grant Manager Access". Check the box and save the form. Then proceed to the Managers area. You should now see the personnel account in question listed as one of your managers. Finish the set-up by defining which manager group the manager should belong too.

Set-Up

General Account Info Settings

The following fields are available on the General Account Settings page:

General Account Settings

First Name - First name of the client account
Last Name - Last name of the client account.
E-mail - E-mail of the client account. Must be unique.
Time Zone - Time zone of the client's account.
Phone - Primary phone number for the client account.

Contact Information

Address - Primary address for the client account.
City - City associated to the address.
State - State associated to the address.
Zip - Zip code associated to the address.

Payroll Export E-mails

E-mails - You can enter up to 5 email addresses that will receive the payroll export file when generated.

Branding

Color Scheme - Choose a scheme that best matches your companies branding.
Logo - Upload your company logo. NOTE: In order to provide an ideal TimeMD experience, please make sure your logo is under 200 pixels in height.

Your API Key

API Key - The key used to connect with TimeMD.

Misc. Settings

Notify managers when day off requests are made. - If checked, managers will be notified when day off requests are made from the employee account.
Allow personnel to request days off. - If checked, personnel will be authorized to make day off requests.
Day-Off requests are automatically approved. - If checked, any day off request made will be automatically approved.
Personnel can see all approved day off requests for all personnel. - If checked, personnel will be able to see all approved day off requests for all other personnel. Otherwise they can only see their own.
Automatically process day off accrual carry over. - If checked, day off accrual carry-over will be automatically calculated based on your day off accrual rule policies.
Automatically post schedules - If checked, your schedules will automatically posted for employees to view.

TimeTracking Settings

General Time Tracking Settings

Flag TIme Entries Over - The system will flag any time entries that exceed this amount. Flag entries will appear on the manager dashboard. We suggest at least a value of 12 or greater.
Time Tracking Type - There are two types of Time Tracking Types. Details of each are listed below:
- Standard Time Tracking - This is our most commonly used setting. This allows you to track and view overtime as well as any other types of hours that could effect the total time tracked. If you need to track time that'll be used for payroll compensation, this is the setting you'll most likely need. NOTE: If you select "Standard Time Tracking", you'll still be able to track time towards Jobs and projects. However you will have information displayed that may not be relevant such as holiday hours, overtime, days off, etc.
- Job-Based Time Tracking - This setting is useful in situations where you are only tracking time towards Jobs or projects. This is commonly used when overtime tracking is not required. Other situations might include tracking time for contractors or off-site agents.
Default Time Entry View - There are two types of Time Entry Views. Note that this setting only determines which type is displayed by default. Users always have the option to select the other type. Details of each are listed below:
- Start & End Times - This means that your personnel will need to input a start date, an end date, as well as the exact start and end time they worked.
- Total Hours Worked - This means personnel will only need to input the date and the total time they worked. Depending on the type of work being done as well as your time record requirements will warrant which entry type is preferred.
Salaried EE Default Hours - Many times organizations will need to track time towards salaried personnel for a variety of reasons. This creates a challenge since many times these personnel do not track time with a conventional time tracking method. By using this field, each time a payroll file is created and exported, the amount entered will be applied towards these individuals.
Restrict Time Entries Over - This field is used in case you wish to restrict time entries entered by managers to less then a certain amount. Keep in mind this does not effect times entered by employees, only managers. If you leave the field blank, no restriction is placed.
Daily Personnel Alerts Check - If you wish to notify your personnel if they forget to track time, you may do so by selecting the appropriate alert type. Please note that your personnel must have a valid e-mail address in order for the alert to be received. You have three options to choose from:
- 7 Days/Week - An alert will be sent out every day of the week.
- Monday thru Friday Only - Alerts will only be sent out Monday through Friday
- Saturday & Sunday Only - Only alerts will be sent out over the weekend.
Require TIme Entries to be approved by personnel? - Check this box if you require your personnel to approve their own time entries before a payroll can be completed. Note you will not be able to export the payroll file until all employees have approved their time.
Require reason if time entries are modified? - Check this box if you require a reason to be submitted for any time tracking modification.
Disable break tracking from web-clock? - Check this box if you wish to hide the "Break" button from the web clock.
Activate Note field on Web Clock. - Check this box if you wish the note field to be displayed with the web clock.
Activate GPS Tracking on mobile devices. - Check this box if you wish the system to track GPS coordinates from mobile devices.

Auto-Break Settings

If you find that your employees have a tendency to forget to indicate if they have taken a break, the Automatic Break Deduction feature has been designed for you. This feature has the ability to record how many minutes should be deducted from a users time entry after the determined number of hours have passed. You can also limit how many break entries should be applied towards a particular time entry. After defining your auto-break rules, remember to specify within each users preferences which auto-deduct rule is applicable to them.

NOTE: TimeMD.com performs all auto-break deductions at midnight. If you have either updated or activate your auto-break rules for the first time, you will be able to see those rules applied to your time entries come the following day.

WARNING The use of the Automatic Break Deduction feature is done so at your own risk. In no way does TimeMD.com retain any liability for any potential employee litigation that may be related to this feature. TimeMD.com HIGHLY recommends the placement and enforcement of company policy that requires all employees to manually track his/her breaks. If you have any questions or concerns in relation to this warning, please contact your sales representative as soon as possible.

Activate Auto-Breaks - If checked, the system will run auto-breaks for those personnel you have flagged to have auto-breaks applied.
Primary Auto-Break Rule - This is the primary auto-break rule. Unless specified, this is the rule that will be used for any personnel who has been flagged for auto-breaks.
Auto-Break Overrides - You can specify up to 4 auto-break override rules. This will allow you to associate different rules for different personnel.

Web Clock Authorization Settings

You have two primary methods to authorize time tracking terminals. One being IP Address based, the other is based on cookies.

IP Address Based Security - In the occasion that you wish to limit which IP's are allowed to access the web clock, you may enter which IP's are allowed. Keep in mind that restriction to the web clock from offsite locations is done on the personnel level. The system will also allow the use of wild cards (*) in order to reflect a range of IP addresses. For example you may use the following IP address:
192.68.16.*
The (*) tells the system to allow all IP's that fall within the range of 1-255 for the final set of numbers. Remember the wildcard character (*) is only recognized if used in the final set of numbers of an IP address.
Browser "Cookie" Based Security - If your organization does not use static IP's or if you find your IP's are changing too frequencly, you may authorize each terminal individually by clicking the "Authorize Terminal" button found in this section.

Physical Time Clock Settings

Shift Threshold - This value helps the physical time entries know how long your shifts are. That way if the amount of time that has elapsed since the last punch exceeds this amount, the system will treat the incoming punch as a new clock-in entry.
Disable break tracking from physical time clocks. - Check this box if the time clock import process should never attempt to calculate if the punch should be treated as a break. All incoming data will either be treated as a clock in or a clock out.
Break Threshold - This value tells the system how much time should pass between time punches before the next time entry is considered the start of a break or the end punch for the time entry. Anything less than the time specified and the time entry will be considered the beginning of a break. More than the time specified and the time entry will be considered an end punch.

Holiday/Event Settings

The Holiday/Events section of the site allows you to define certain dates that may require certain actions when it comes to scheduling, time tracking and employee compensation. Perhaps your business is closed during certain dates. This section will allow you to define what dates your business is closed and will therefore not include them when creating a schedule.

Another common use for this section would be to define certain dates your personnel may not request off helping to eliminate any potential unfairness.

The dates you specify may either repeat on the exact date each year or perhaps it would be a one-time only event (or one that may not occur at the same time the following year i.e. company parties, BBQ's, etc.). Either way, you have the availability to define as many dates as you like.

Holiday Listing Page

The listing page will display all the holidays/events you've entered into the system. The follow columns are displayed for Annual Holidays:

Name - The name of the holiday or event.
Paid Hrs - How many hours will be paid out when the holiday occurs.
Extra Pay - Whether or not personnel should be paid more if they work the holiday.
Current Date - When will the holiday occur.
Next Date - When will the holiday occur next.
Date Input - The value that was input for the holiday.
Closed - Whether or not the business is closed for the holiday.
Global - Whether or not the holiday is recognized throughout the company.
Limit To button - If the holiday is not recognized, you can specify which personnel the holiday applies too by clicking this button.
Edit button - Click the button if you wish to change the parameters of the holiday.

The follow columns are displayed for One Time Only Holidays:

Name - The name of the holiday or event.
Paid Hrs - How many hours will be paid out when the holiday occurs.
Extra Pay - Whether or not personnel should be paid more if they work the holiday.
Date - The date the holiday will occur.
Closed - Whether or not the business is closed for the holiday.
Global - Whether or not the holiday is recognized throughout the company.
Limit To button - If the holiday is not recognized, you can specify which personnel the holiday applies too by clicking this button.
Edit button - Click the button if you wish to change the parameters of the holiday.

Holiday Input/Edit Page

The following fields are available when managing holidays.

General Information

Holiday/Event Name - The name of the holiday/event.
Paid Hours - The amount of hours that should be paid when the holiday occurs.
Alt Paid Hours - The number of hours that should be paid for all non-full time employees. This field should only be used if non-full time employees should receive different hours then full time employees. If left blank, the system will use values from the "Paid Hours" field.
Pay hours based on scheduled hours only - Use this field if you wish to only pay out holiday hours as defined in the posted schedule. In other words, if the personnel in question is not scheduled for the day, then 0 hours will be paid out. If they are scheduled to work 5 hours then only 5 hours will be paid out etc. NOTE: If used, any values entered in the "Paid Hours" fields will be ignored.

Actual Holiday/Event Date

Fixed Date - Use these fields to define a fixed date holiday. Or in other words, an event that happens at an exact date, every year. Some examples might include Christmas or Independence Day.
Relative Date - Use these fields to define a relative holiday/event date. Or in other words, a holiday/event that happens on the beginning or end of the month or one that is determined after a certain number of days have passed.

Employee Eligibility

EE's are eligible after... - Use these fields to determine when new hires are eligible to receive the paid hours for a given holiday/event.

General Settings

Repeat - Use this box to specify whether or not this event will happen every year for the dates specified. This prevents you from having to enter in the same event every year you wish to recognize it.
Closed - By defining if your business is closed during the specified holiday/event, the Scheduler will not attempt to schedule personnel on that date.
Request - You may flag certain days that personnel may not request off. This is helpful during high volume dates when personnel attendance is critical to your business.
Paid Extra - Use this field if you wish to pay your personnel time and a half for working during this event/holiday. Keep in mind these hours are separate from any overtime calculations.
Limit - Use this field if you want the holiday/event to only apply to certain Departments. You'll then be required to specify which Departments at a later point.

@@ Line 184: / Line 184: @@
 ===== General Information =====
-* '''Holiday/Event Name'''
+* '''Holiday/Event Name''' - The name of the holiday/event.
-* '''Paid Hours'''
+* '''Paid Hours''' - The amount of hours that should be paid when the holiday occurs.
-* '''Alt Paid Hours'''
+* '''Alt Paid Hours''' - The number of hours that should be paid for all non-full time employees. This field should only be used if non-full time employees should receive different hours then full time employees. If left blank, the system will use values from the "Paid Hours" field.
-* '''Pay hours based on scheduled hours only'''
+* '''Pay hours based on scheduled hours only''' - Use this field if you wish to only pay out holiday hours as defined in the posted schedule. In other words, if the personnel in question is not scheduled for the day, then 0 hours will be paid out. If they are scheduled to work 5 hours then only 5 hours will be paid out etc. NOTE: If used, any values entered in the "Paid Hours" fields will be ignored.
 ===== Actual Holiday/Event Date =====
-* '''Fixed Date'''
+* '''Fixed Date''' - Use these fields to define a fixed date holiday. Or in other words, an event that happens at an exact date, every year. Some examples might include Christmas or Independence Day.
-* '''Relative Date'''
+* '''Relative Date''' - Use these fields to define a relative holiday/event date. Or in other words, a holiday/event that happens on the beginning or end of the month or one that is determined after a certain number of days have passed.
 ===== Employee Eligibility =====
-* '''EE's are eligible after...'''
+* '''EE's are eligible after...''' - Use these fields to determine when new hires are eligible to receive the paid hours for a given holiday/event.
 ===== General Settings =====
-* '''Repeat'''
+* '''Repeat''' - Use this box to specify whether or not this event will happen every year for the dates specified. This prevents you from having to enter in the same event every year you wish to recognize it.
-* '''Closed'''
+* '''Closed''' - By defining if your business is closed during the specified holiday/event, the Scheduler will not attempt to schedule personnel on that date.
-* '''Request'''
+* '''Request''' - You may flag certain days that personnel may not request off. This is helpful during high volume dates when personnel attendance is critical to your business.
-* '''Paid Extra'''
+* '''Paid Extra''' - Use this field if you wish to pay your personnel time and a half for working during this event/holiday. Keep in mind these hours are separate from any overtime calculations.
-* '''Limit'''
+* '''Limit''' - Use this field if you want the holiday/event to only apply to certain Departments. You'll then be required to specify which Departments at a later point.
 === Day Off Accrual Rule Settings ===