But 26 per cent still admit to cheating the system
Employees around the world admit to fudging timesheets in order to receive pay for time they weren’t working, according to a study from Kronos.
But Canadians were the least likely in the survey — which also polled workers in Australia, China, France, India, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States — to admit to billing for hours they had not worked.
"We have run surveys on the number of employees in the U.S. who admit to cheating on their time sheets in the past, but we have never surveyed on this topic in other regions around the world,” Joyce Maroney, director of The Workforce Institute, Kronos. “The vast disparity amongst regions is startling, with India leading the pack at 73 per cent and Canada having the fewest number of people with 26 per cent.”
Employees who currently use a time clock were asked if they had ever done anything to receive more pay such as clocking in earlier or out later than scheduled, having someone else clock them in or out, neglecting to clock out for lunch or breaks, adding time to timesheets or other activity along these lines, according to Kronos.
In India, 73 per cent of people who currently use a time clock admitted to engaging in one or more of these behaviors, followed by 72 per cent in China, 51 per cent of those surveyed in Australia, 49 per cent in Mexico, 37 per cent of those surveyed in the U.K., 33 per cent of those surveyed in France, 33 per cent in the U.S. and 26 per cent of those surveyed in Canada.
“Organizations with employees around the world need to take a hard look at their time keeping technologies and policies and make sure that they are using the latest technology, configuring their solutions appropriately, and setting correct policies to minimize this kind of fraud,” said Maroney.
The survey also looked at the differing attitudes employees have toward their jobs.
When survey participants were asked how they felt when they clocked in to work for the day, the most popular response in every region except France was "looking forward to starting a good day's work.”
In France, 30 per cent of those surveyed who clock into work having the feeling of being "bored with my job.”
When participants were asked how they felt when they clocked out of work for the day, those surveyed in Australia, Canada, India, and Mexico most commonly said they felt "satisfied with a hard day's work.”
In the U.S. and China, the top response was "excited to start my free time” and among those surveyed in France and the U.K., it was "thrilled to be getting away from my job.”
The survey, conducted in October, was commissioned by The Workforce Institute, which was founded by Kronos. It was conducted online by Harris Interactive.
The survey was conducted online within the U.S. between Oct. 11 to 13 among 2,194 adults (aged 18 and older), of whom 1,087 are employed and 1,657 have used a time clock. In Canada the survey was completed between Oct. 12 to 18 among 1,012 adults (aged 18 and older) of whom 649 are employed and 548 use a time clock. The survey was done within Great Britain, France, Australia, Mexico, China, and India between Oct. 11 to 18 among 6,067 adults (aged 16 and older) of whom 3,867 are employed and 3,266 have used a time clock.
