When it comes to the cities with long working hours, it is not surprising that Hong Kong will come into your mind first. In fact, Hong Kong ranks the second in “Top Overworked Cities” this year and ranked the first in the same research conducted by KISI in 2021. With the end of the pandemic is finally in sight, both local and international events, including concerts, expo, sport competitions etc., have begun to resume. The working hours of employees involved in such organization of events are expected to increase even more due to heavy workload, from event preparation, promotion, recruitment of temporary workers, executive, to post-event evaluation and follow up. It is also common for employees to use their personal cash to cover any unexpected expenses spent on the events in order to meet tight schedules. Expenses such as meals, transportation and accommodation will also be incurred. With the surge in international events, the number of OT and expense claims handled by HR is expected to increase significantly which undoubtedly will create an excessive burden on HR without the help of an effective HR system and mobile app.
Cumbersome Expense Reimbursement Process
The traditional way of handling expense claims involves a lot of paperwork. The process starts from employees submitting paper claim forms with all supporting documents attached (both true copies and photocopies of the proofs) to the HR on a monthly basis. It often happens that employees may lose their receipts or the receipts may be damaged due to various reasons. One common case is that the texts on the receipts will fade gradually due to exposure to heat or UV light. Without an authentic proof, the claim process may be further delayed and additional proofs may be requested by the HR to verify the claims, which makes employee experience even more unpleasant. Upon receipt of the paper applications, HR needs to calculate and double check the claimed amount as well as to examine the supporting documents one by one. This error prone and manual process also includes repeated and time-consuming scanning and filing work. If the claims involve foreign currencies, HR needs to deal with the exchange rates manually which will further increase HR workload and the risk of mis-calculation.
Messy OT Records Complex Approval Process
OT claims handling is another major HR struggle due to messy OT and inaccurate attendance records. For some businesses, such as Auditing and Accounting, employees are often required to work at clients’ offices or abroad. It is thus extremely challenging for HR to obtain real-time attendance records without the clock in and out functions of a mobile app. Unable to keep track of the working and OT hours of their employees, HR cannot trace the authenticity of the OT hours claimed and cannot provide a timesheet as a reference to charge their clients for the services provided. To verify the OT hours, HR may need to check with each supervisor and the records may depend mostly on the honesty and discipline of the employees without the help of an effective HR system. Moreover, manual calculation of OT hours and extra wages incurred will further increase HR workload.
3 Reasons Why Mobile App Can Help Streamline Your Claim Workflow
OT Claims: Plan Ahead Your OT Hours
Some HR Mobile Apps now allow employees to plan ahead their OT schedules. If employees expect that there will be additional working hours due to upcoming events or projects, they can create their planned OT schedules via mobile app for their supervisors’ review and pre-approval. By doing this, both supervisors and HR can have an overview of the preliminary working schedules and upcoming OT hours of each employee in advance. Such data can also serve as a reference for the HR to predict the total OT hours and extra wages that may be incurred due to additional work monthly. Employees can enter their actual OT hours to the system for final approval afterwards. Supervisors can compare the planned and actual OT hours in a combined view while doing the approval via the app. Such functionality not only enables a more systematic OT claim process and builds up an accurate OT database, but also releases HR from the heavy burden of manual calculation of extra salaries and repeated checking work.
Integrate with Attendance: Clock in/out for Accurate OT Records
To further enhance the accuracy of attendance data, HR may consider using the clock in and out functions in the mobile app, including facial recognition, photo taking, GPS and bluetooth. Employees, especially for those working onsite, can report their working and off time anywhere and anytime on the go with their personal mobile devices. Such functionality helps maintain accurate and real-time attendance records for HR. In case of any suspicious OT claim applications, HR can extract and examine the attendance data to verify the cases before approving the applications, which further empowers HR to make the fullest use of HR data.
Expense Claims: Handle Expense Claim Anytime & Anywhere
Apart from OT claims, mobile app also helps HR to streamline expense claim processes and enhance employee experience. By using mobile app, employees can submit their expense claim application anytime and anywhere on the go. The app allows users to input the claimed items and upload softcopies of the supporting documents immediately after spending. The System will store all input items and automatically calculate the total amount without any manual calculation required. Even for claims involving international currencies, the system can cater the conversion based on pre-set exchange rates or real-time exchange rates, further reducing HR workload and the risk of mis-calculation. Moreover, the app provides charts showing the distribution of expense claims which allows HR to have a better understanding of the overall spending patterns of their employees. Furthermore, HR can customize and update the claim categories, such as meal, transportation, medical service, accommodation or any other special allowances, from time to time according to their company needs and latest HR policies.
Win-win Opportunity: Simplifying HR Workflow and Enhancing Employee Experience
Equipped with an HR mobile app, HR no longer need to worry about the complicated claim process and manual operation. The workflow can be simplified and the entire process can be done online with personal devices with ease. Manual errors can be significantly reduced with automatic calculation of claimed amounts. Furthermore, a more accurate attendance database can be built up to empower the HR to have better control over the employees. Meanwhile, employee experience can be enhanced as the claim processing time can be greatly reduced and all supporting documents can be uploaded and saved in the system anytime and anywhere at employees’ convenience. All in all, the implementation of mobile app is beneficial for both HR and employees. It’s thus the time for HR to catch up with the mobile trend for such win-win situations!
Want more on the new mobile trend in 2023? Don’t miss our upcoming concluding remarks on ESS and mobile! If you would like to learn more about the features of BridgeBuilder HRMS Mobile App and how it can enhance your claim workflow and employee experience, please click HERE for a complete guide or contact us at 3798 4400.