Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the award of the degree B.Com., LL.B. (Hons)

Submitted by

A.MANORANJAN
Registration No.BC0150014
Submitted to

TAMIL NADU NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL

TIRUCHIRAPPALLI 620 009

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 Declaration

I, MANORANJAN do hereby declare that the project entitled

ROLE OF TIME-KEEPING DEPARTMENT IN ASCERTAINING
LABOUR submitted to Tamil Nadu National law school in partial
fulfillment of requirement of award of degree in undergraduate in law is
a record of original work done by me under the supervision and
guidance of Professor Agilla department of COST ACCOUNTING ,
Tamil Nadu National law school and has not formed basis for award of
any degree or diploma or fellowship or any other title to any other
candidate of any university.

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3
Introduction:

Objective:

Methodology:

This report is fully based on secondary data. Secondary data relating to time-keeping
is collected from various internet sources and books.

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INTRODUCTION TO TIME KEEPING:

Timekeeping refers to the process of recording the arrival and departure time of
Employees in a factory. In other words it records the incoming and outgoing time of employees
in a factory. Every factory will establish a separate time keeping department which is situated
near the entrance of a factory gate. The timekeeping officer will be in charge of the dept. his duty
is to arrange for accurate time recording of all employees of the factory.

OBJECTIVES OF TIME KEEPING:

To maintain discipline, regularly and punctuality in the factory.

Preparation of pay rolls where workers are paid on time basis.
To record the arrival and departure time of labourers for making distinction between
normal times, overtime, delay in attendance and early leaving.
To calculate wages payable to employees
To calculate normal & overtime working hours
To meet requirements of factories act.
To introduce incentive systems
To ensure discipline among workers & adaptable to changes

A good Time keeping system should have provisions for recording of attendance for both time &
piece workers. It should be able to locate & control proxy workers. The system should be simple,
smooth & adaptable to changes.

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ESSENTIALS OF GOOD TIME KEEPING SYSTEM:

The under mentioned points must be assured for the purpose of attaining
efficiency in time keeping:-

1. In accordance with established procedure & under the supervision of a responsible office
that must be present at the gate, the attendance & departure must be signified, by
whatever means.

2. There must be complete elimination of recording of attendance & departure of proxy.

3. Recording of attendance & departure should be made by all the workers, whether they are
on the time wage system or on piece wage system, with equal importance.

4. The machines which are used for recording must be in good condition so that there is no
error in recording & also must be in good number so that there is no overcrowding at the
gate.

5. Except on gate pass duly signed by responsible officer, workers should not be allowed to
leave the factory. The gate pass should record time of departure, so that on this basis,
adjustment in attendance period can be made.

6. Late attendance must be recorded by the late comers & the extent of late coming allowed
should be prescribed.

7. Though more costly, yet, double recording at the factory gate & in the department
concerned, gives facility for checking the time recorded.

METHODS OF TIME KEEPING:

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 There are two methods of time-keeping. They are the manual methods and the
mechanical methods. The choice of a particular method depends upon the requirements and
policy of a firm. But whichever method is followed, it should make a correct record of the time
incurring the minimum possible expenditure and should minimize the risk of fraudulent
payments of wages.

Following are the two methods of time-keeping discussed in detail:

I. Manual Methods

II. Mechanical Methods

MANUAL METHODS

Attendance Register Method,

Metal Disc Method.

ATTENDANCE REGISTER METHOD:

It is the oldest method of recording time. Under this method, an attendance register (also
known as Muster Roll) is kept in the time office adjacent to the factory gate or in each
department for workers employed therein. The attendance register contains such columns as the
name of the worker, the workers number, the department in which he is working, the rate of
wages, the time of arrival and departure, normal time and overtime.

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The time of arrival and departure may be noted down by an employee known as time-keeper. If
the workers are literate, they may make a record of time themselves in the presence of a time-
keeper or foreman.

This method is simple and inexpensive and can be used in small firms where the number of
workers is not large. This method may lead to dishonest practice of recording wrong time
because there is possibility of collusion between some of the workers and the time-keeper.
However, for recording the time of workers who work at customers premises and places which
are situated at a distance from the factory, this may be the only suitable method.

METAL DISC METHOD:

Under this method, each worker is allotted a metal disc or a token with a hole bearing his
identification number. A board is kept at the gate with pegs on it and all tokens are hung on this
board. These boards can be maintained separately for each department so that the workers could
remove their tokens from the board without undue delay.

As the workers enter the factory gate, they remove their respective discs or tokens and place
them in a box or tray kept near the board. Immediately after the scheduled time for entering the
factory, the box is removed and the late comers will have to give their tokens to the time-keeper
personally so that the exact time of their arrival could be recorded. The discs or tokens still left
on the board represent the absentee workers. Later the time-keeper records the attendance in a
register known as Daily Muster Roll which is subsequently passed on to the Pay Roll
Department.

This method is simple because illiterate workers can very easily recognize their tokens and put in
the box. This method is better than attendance register method and is useful when the number of
employees is not large.

But it has certain disadvantages of its own as given below:

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1. There are chances that a worker may try to remove his companions token from the board in
order to get his presence marked when he is absent.

2. There are chances of disputes regarding the exact time of arrival of a worker because the time-
keeper marking the attendance can commit mistakes deliberately or through carelessness. There
is no authentic proof of the presence or absence of the workers.

3. There are chances of inclusion of dummy or ghost workers by the time-keeper in the
attendance register or Daily Muster Roll.

MECHANICAL METHODS:

Time Recording Clocks; and

Dial Time Records.

TIME RECORDING CLOCKS:

The time recording clock is a mechanical device which automatically records the time of
the workers. This method has been developed to obviate some of the difficulties experienced in
case of manual methods and this method is useful when the number of workers is fairly large.
Under this method, each worker is given a Time Card usually of one week duration. Time cards
are serially arranged in a tray near the factory gate and as the worker enters the gate, he picks up
his card from the tray, puts it in the time recording clock which prints the exact time of arrival in
the proper space against the particular day.

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This process is repeated I for recording time of departure for lunch, return from lunch and time
of leaving the factory in the evening. Late arrivals, early leavings and overtime are printed in red
to attract the attention of the management.

A time card may also give such particulars as hourly rate, total gross wages less deductions and
net wages payable. If these particulars are included in the time card, it would be known as
combined time and pay-roll card divided into two parts, the upper part being the record of time
and the lower one serving as the wage ticket.

Wages are calculated on the basis of time recorded in the upper portion and are entered in the
lower portion by the pay-roll department.

The main advantage of this method is that there are no chances of disputes arising in connection
with recording of time of workers because time is recorded by the time recording clock and not
by the time-keeper. There is no scope for partiality or carelessness of the time-keeper as it is in
case of manual methods.

But this method suffers from the following defects:

1. There are chances that a worker may try to get his friends time card from the tray in order to
get him marked present in time when he is actually late or get his presence marked when he is
absent. This drawback can be removed if the time-keeper does not show carelessness.

2. Sometimes, the time recording clock goes out of order and the work of recording of time is
dislocated.

DIAL TIME RECORDS:

The dial time recorder is a machine which has a dial around the clock. This dial has a
number of holes (usually about 150) and each hole bears a number corresponding to the
identification number of the worker concerned.

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There is one radial arm at the center of the dial. As a worker enters the factory gate, he is to press
the radial arm after placing it at the hole of his number and his time will automatically be
recorded on roll of a paper inside the dial time recorder against the number.

The sheet on which the time is recorded provides a running account of the workers time. This
machine allows greater accuracy and can itself transcribe the number of hours to the wages
sheets. This machine can also calculate the wages of the workers and thus avoids much loss of
time. However, the high installation cost of the dial time recorder and its use for only a limited
number of workers are the drawbacks of this method.

TIME BOOKING:

This is the process of recording the time spent by a worker on different jobs
carried out by him during his total stay in organization. In this process the actual working & idle
time is separated.

METHODS OF TIME BOOKING -

a) Manual Method

1) Daily Time Sheet:

Each worker is provided every day a card or sheet in which he has to make entries about
his time of arrival, ID number, time spent on each job, idle time, over time job number etc. The
worker carries the sheet as he moves from job to job in different departments. The sheet is
submitted daily to the foremen of workers for checking. . The method is used for maintenance
staff & when the number of jobs is more. It however has extra clerical work & there is scope for
manipulation by workers.

2) Weekly Time Sheet:

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 The process almost similar as daily time sheets. However, as the jobs here are more time
consuming & therefore instead of using daily cards, weekly cards are used. They reduce the
amount of recording & the quantum of paper work. The method is used in construction, or field
of interior decoration.

3) Job cards:

Cards are issued separately for different jobs. Every worker who works on the job records
his working time on that job in the card. The cards are submitted for the checking of the
supervisor when the job is over. The time between two jobs is marked as idle time. The cards
may be issued for different departments or different jobs.

4) Time & Job cards:

This is a combination card. The first part contains time details & the second part contains
job details. The card helps in reconciliation of time keeping & time booking.

5) Piece Work Card:

The card is allotted to workers who work on piece basis. Each worker or each group is
given this card & they have to record the number of units allotted to them & actually produced
by them. Based on production details, time taken to manufacture & idle time can be recorded.
The card helps in maintaining discipline among piece workers & out workers.

6) Idle Time Cards:

This card separates & records from all the previous cards, the details of idle time. Based
on the information, idle time can be analyzed & controlled

RECONCILIATION OF TIME KEEPING & TIME BOOKING:

It is necessary to reconcile the records of TK & TB to maintain accuracy. Wages paid on

the basis of time keeping records should agree with productive time as per time booking records.
The 2 activities are complementary as well as supplementary by nature. However they are not
same by nature.
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IDLE TIME:

Idle time means that time for which the employer pays, but from which he obtains no
production. Otherwise it is the difference between the times for which workers are paid but the
workers do not work. So it is a loss to the organization. It can be minimized but, cannot be
controlled during idle time, the workers remain due and contribute nothing towards production.
It is the difference between actual hour and actual hour worked.

CAUSES OF IDLE TIME:

1) Productive causes:
They are the causes related to production activity for e.g. machine break down, power
failure, waiting time for work in production schedule, lack of instructions or shortage of any
factor of production.
2) Administrative causes:

They are causes related to general work in the organization for e.g. strikes, lock outs,
statutory requirements like lunch breaks, time spent in attendance etc.

3) Economic causes:

They are related to general economic conditions like market fluctuations, competition,
lay off due to lack of demand etc.

TYPES OF IDLE TIME:

Normal idle time:

Normal idle time is idle time which cannot be avoided & on the basis of the nature of
industry it remains within the normal limit.

Examples are:

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 i. loss of time between the factory gate to the department due to personal needs, tea
breaks, machine adjustments etc.; idle time normally arising between finishing of
one job & beginning of the next job.

ii. Loss of time on account of waiting for instructions, job, material, tools, power etc.
& due to breakdown of machinery for short period, load shedding for short
period, adverse atmosphere etc.

Abnormal idle time:

Abnormal idle time is that idle time, the occurrence of which is not normal & because of
some unexpected reasons such occurrence takes place. Thus idle time arising due to machinery
breakdown, long time failure of power or load shedding, sudden strike or lockout are abnormal
idle time.

Concealed idle time:

Idle time which arises due to worker's employment in unnecessary work only for the
purpose of keeping them engaged & also idle time which arises when upper category workers are
employed under lower category work. These types of idle time apparently look like working
time, but since there is involvement of loss of wages, they mean idle time of concealed nature.

Idle time, from the point of view of controllability, may be classified into two groups:-

Controllable idle time:-

Controllable idle time is that idle time, the cause of which can be controlled. For
example- idle time arising from waiting for instructions can be controlled provided instructions
are prepared in advance & have been given to the workers without delay.

Uncontrollable idle time: -

Idle time, the cause of which cannot be controlled is known as uncontrollable idle time.
For example: When the factory has to depend on outside supply of power, idle time will be there

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due to load shedding, power utilization control etc. Uncontrollable shall not remain forever as
such. For example-If own power house can be installed by the factory, idle time arising due to
load shedding can be avoided.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TIME-KEEPING AND TIME-BOOKING:

S.NO TIME-KEEPING TIME-BOOKING

1. Records attendance time of employees Records total time worked by employees on
jobs

2. First step involved in time recording Second step involved in time recording

3. Records the time spent by employees Records the time spent by employees in the
on various jobs factory

4. It is done at time keeping office It is at various production departments

5. It is recorded by time-keeping officer It is recorded by foreman or by employees

6. Its purpose is to enable preparation of Its aim is to ascertain the labour cost of job
pay roll

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CONCLUSION:

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