My Time Clock Software Computer Crashed

There's not a week that goes by that we don't receive a panicked phone call from a Virtual TimeClock software user whose computer has crashed and they're looking for advice on what to do. Here are some common scenarios and practical steps to help you on the road to recovering your time and attendance data.

My computer crashed but I have a backup.

That's great! I love these scenarios because I get to be the bearer of good news. As long as you have a backup of your database, then all you need to do is install Virtual TimeClock on a new computer, restore your database from the backup, and activate your time clock software license.

My computer crashed but I can still access the hard drive.

This is another 'good news' scenario. As long as you can access your old hard drive, we can help you get your database moved over to a new computer. Then all you need to do is install Virtual TimeClock, open your database, and activate your time clock software license.

My computer crashed but I don't have a backup.

This is bad news, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news. We can't help you restore something that doesn't exist. You'll need to install Virtual TimeClock on a new computer, activate your time clock software license, create a new database, and start inputting your employee data from scratch.

It's so easy to setup a scheduled backup of your time clock software data, that there's really no excuse. We even provide you with detailed instructions. So next time you're unfortunate enough to have a catastrophic hardware failure, I hope to hear you say "My computer crashed but I have a backup!" With that piece of good news, we can help get you up and running again in no time.

Jeff Morrow

Redcort Software

Virtual TimeClock Rounding Rules

A couple of new time clock software users this week wondering why when they calculate the difference between the start and stop times on their timecard reports it's not the same as the hours worked being reported. The reason is because the rounding rules you set in Virtual TimeClock are applied to the actual start and stop work times, not the total hours worked for the entry. Let me give you an example.

With quarter hour rounding enabled, you'd see the following results:

A start time of 9:11 is closer to 9:15 than 9:00 so it rounds to 9:15.

A stop time of 12:10 is closer to 12:15 than 12:00 so it rounds to 12:15.

9:15 to 12:15 is 3:00 hours (rounding to the nearest minute would show 2:59 hours).

A start time of 9:08 is closer to 9:15 than 9:00 so it rounds to 9:15.

A stop time of 12:07 is closer to 12:00 than 12:15 so it rounds to 12:00.

9:15 to 12:00 is 2:45 hours (rounding to the nearest minute would still show 2:59 hours).

You can take a look at what the FLSA says about rounding time on this fact sheet. Since Virtual TimeClock records the actual start and stop times to the exact minute, you can change your rounding rules anytime to see what effect it has on your current timecard reports.

Jeff Morrow

Redcort Software

Reporting Accrued and Used Leave

There's been some changes to the Accrued and Used Leave Hours report for Virtual TimeClock '10. I think you'll find the report easier to understand and a more powerful tool for tracking your employee time and attendance.

The 'YTD' column labels have been removed to make it easier to identify what period of time the report pertains to. 'YTD', or 'Year-to-Date', always started with the award anniversary date for each employee, not necessarily January 1. The award anniversary day has been replaced with a date range. The starting date is the award anniversary date starting the new award benefit year for the employee. The ending date is the report accrued through date that's selected when the report filter dialog is displayed to select what workers you want to include in the report.

The hours worked categories (regular, overtime, and total) have been identified as non-leave hours to make it clear that paid leave hours do not accrue more paid leave.

If you need help setting up new leave categories or leave awards in your time clock software, check out this newsletter.

Jeff Morrow

Redcort Software