Q. Is there a way to insert time for an employee and have it paid at an overtime rate? Example: An employee comes in at my special request and I want to pay them overtime, even though it is not a special day (Saturday or Sunday) and it is not over the hours needed for overtime.

A. Overtime will only be applied if it fits the overtime rules you have previously set. One way around that would be to manually insert an amount of time. For instance, if Bob comes in for 2 hours on his day off, but you want those 2 hours paid at an overtime rate of 2x regular pay, insert 4 hours of regular time and then add a note to the transactions in case you have to reference it later.

Q. I do not have a CD drive on my PC. How else can I get the software?

A. PCs without CD or DVD drives and becoming more and more common. All the software you need can be downloaded directly from our website using this link: https://timepilot.com/
Support/Downloads1.php.

Q. How do I set the time on my Extreme Blue clock?

A. Each time you download your transactions from the clock to the app on your smartphone, the time on the clock is updated with the time on your phone. Alternatively, if you have someone at the site with our smartphone app and a gray management iButton, you can open the app and go to the Settings tab, then press Clock Administration > Set time/date. It will then prompt that person to tap the OUT probe with the gray management iButton to start the process.

Q. Sometimes my employees tap the out when they should have tapped in or vice versa, forcing us to make the correction in the TimePilot Central software. Why not just use one probe so they can't make a mistake?

A. We've thought about that, but we believe that asking the system to assume whether a tap in is a clock-in or clock-out would cause more problems than it would solve. Let's say there's only one probe. On Monday, the first day of the pay period, an employee taps the probe to start his day, then forgets to tap out at the end of the day. The next day, when he taps in, the one-probe system would register it as a tap out. And for the rest of the pay period, every clock-in would really be a clock-out, every clock-out would really be a clock in, and you'd have to correct every transaction. We think the two-probe system is a better solution.


Happy New [pause] Year!: Did you feel it? Scientists added an extra second onto 2016 on New Year's Eve to account for the slowing of the earth's rotation, which adds about a second every 18 months. What's slowing us down? Tides.

Source

That's moving!: It may feel like you're sitting still, but you definitely aren't: The earth (with you on it) is rotating at almost 1,000 miles per hour. But there's more: We're also orbiting the sun, and for that, our planet is traveling through space at approximately 66,000 miles per hour. So each of us is spinning at 1,000 mph while traveling on an arc at 66,000 mph. 

Source

Welcome!
TimePilot newsletter No. 50

Whether you're a current or future TimePilot customer, we're glad to see you.

Every month we'll offer news about TimePilot products, tips on how to use them more efficiently and some of the "cool stuff" our employees have come across!

In this issue:

  • TimePilot Q&A: Inserting time at an overtime rate; setting the time on a TimePilot Extreme Blue clock.
  • TimePilot Lead Story: Adding signature lines to employee reports.
  • Cool Stuff: Grocery Gripps.

Secrets of the TimePilot Software

Creating Signable Timesheets

The more you use the TimePilot Central software, the more you'll find features and shortcuts that are built in. Here's one:

It's not a bad idea to have your employees verify their work hours at the end of a pay period. This will give them a chance to correct any errors they spot as well as help protect you if an employee charges that they worked more hours than they were paid.

In TimePilot Central, you can create a report that can be printed out and then signed by the employee (and his or her supervisor, if you wish). Let's say we want a report for all employees in the Shipping and Receiving Department, with signature lines for the employee and their supervisor indicating they agree with the hourly totals.

Here's how to do it:

  1. Open your recently extracted pay period in TimePilot Central.
  2. Click the Reports menu at the top of the screen, then "Transaction Reports > Transaction Report (Condensed)"

    A report showing every clock-in and clock-out by each employee, along with hours totaled, will be generated. That's the basic report, listing the time data for every employee. We're getting there, but it's not quite perfect. Continue with the steps below to have the report show exactly what we want.
  3. Across the top of the screen, you'll see that the default choices are to group the employees by Company, with Transactions with Rules Applied, for the full pay period. The dates and times for that pay period are also shown. (We won't do this in this example, but if you needed a report covering different dates, you could click the "This Pay Period" field, choose "Custom" and enter that dates you want.)

    First, let's have the report organize the employees by Department, so we can break out those in Shipping and Receiving. In the "Group By" field, click the arrow next to "Company" and choose "Department" from the choices that appear.
    Change the entry in this box at the top of the Report to Department.
  4. To add signature lines for the employee and supervisor at the bottom of each employee's report, click the checkboxes for "Include Employee Signature Line" and "Include Supervisor Signature Line."
    Check the bottom two boxes to have the report generate signature lines.
    Now we have the employees organized by Department, with signature lines for the employee and their supervisor appearing at the bottom of each employee's data. But we want the report to include just the employees in Shipping and Receiving—not the entire company. Continue to the next step to refine things even more.
  5. In the left column, there are three choices that determine which employees will be displayed in the report:
    • All Profiles: All employees will be shown.
    • Selected Group: Clicking this button will give you a variety of choices, based on what you see in the "Group by" field in Step 3. For our example, you'll click on "Shipping and Receiving" and then "Refresh."
    • Selected Profiles: Need a sheet for just a few employees? You can click this button, choose the employees you want, and click "Refresh."
  6. There! Now you have a report for each person in Shipping and receiving, listing all of their clock-ins and clock-outs, with lines at the bottom for signatures. Now all you have to do is print it.
  7. Click that "Print" button at the top of the screen to print the report. Want to save a copy in PDF format? Click the "Export" button, change the "Save as type" selection to PDF and click "Save."

Every once in a while, our employees come across “cool stuff.”
This is where they share their finds.

Grocery Gripps let you handle multiple shopping bags with easeGrocery Gripps

When you go grocery shopping, do you ever have trouble carrying all of those plastic bags? Grocery Gripps makes it easy. It's a heavy-duty nylon strap with two loops that lets you carry four, six or even eight bags with ease.

Just run the strap through the bag handles and lift. You can even carry them over your shoulder, Santa Claus-style. They'll carry other awkward things like dry cleaning or even beach chairs, too.

Grocery Gripps come in five colors and are $19.99 each. (If you're a veteran you get a 30% discount!)

Grocery Gripps web site