Biometric devices record payroll hours quickly and accurately, eliminating clocking-in fraud and errors associated with manual systems. However in some cases, companies implementing biometrics will initially encounter employee resistance, usually based on privacy and hygiene concerns.  People naturally tend to be suspicious of something new.  However, experience shows that any concerns are eliminated if employees are educated upon announcement of the new system.

People tend to associate biometrics with crime detection. The key message here is that the one-to-one authentication process used in time and attendance involves simply matching the live biometric presented with a stored template for that individual previously enrolled in the system. 

When the user presents an ID card or enters a PIN number, only that template is transmitted. The reader runs the authentication process to determine if the template that is stored matches the biometric being presented.  This is quite different to the one-to-many identification process used in crime detection.

Most companies find that hand readers are more acceptable to employees than fingerprint readers which, because of the connotation with crime, are often viewed negatively.

Health & Safety

Some users initially express opposition, citing hygiene as their concern even though they are no more likely to pick up germs from a biometric reader than from anywhere else - such as a commuter train, cashpoint keypad or shopping trolley.

To avoid the perception of potential contamination, best practice is for the unit to be cleaned and disinfected periodically during routine cleaning.  In addition, hand readers feature BioCote silver anti-microbial technology -the same used on hospital instrumentation - which is embedded into the plastic construction, providing a hygienic finish that resists bacterial degradation and reduces bacteria levels on the reader’s surface.

It is important that the employee understands the benefits that he or she will enjoy. With a biometric system, the company eliminates the costs and mistakes inherent in manual data inputting.  Some of these mistakes can affect an employee’s paycheck; input errors can short-change an employee’s pay, wasting both the employee’s and employer’s time in correcting the mistake. 

Another great benefit is that employees have increased flexibility.   They can immediately view up to 24 information fields to review punches or find out about their schedules, total hours worked and other important information. They can also check on their accrued vacation time directly from the biometric device, without having to make any calls or appointments. 

Informed Opinions

We see it over and over again; employee concerns generally disappear after a brief system introduction.  We suggest that a good explanation might start with, “This new biometric reader uses the size and shape of your hand to verify you are you.  You punch in a user ID code, and then the hand reader looks at the length, width, thickness and surface area of your hand.  This is matched with a mathematical template that is made of your hand’s shape when you are enrolled.  The whole process takes about a second.”

Following this up with a clear description of how verification works – at the very beginning - demystifies the device and helps users feel at ease. For both employer and employee, across the whole working environment and business infrastructure, biometric technology has proved to be a win-win situation.

Dave Bulless, biometric specialist, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies