The problem
Cleaners work alone in clients' homes, so the owner rarely knows when a clean started or finished, and paper timesheets get filled in from memory on Friday. If each of 8 cleaners' timesheets runs 15 minutes a week over at $17£13€15A$25C$24 an hour, that's 2 hours ($35£26€31A$50C$49) a week, about $149£112€133A$215C$211 a month ($35£26€31A$50C$49 × 4.3). Checking timesheets against the diary takes the owner another 2 hours a week.
What the AI does
RotaCloud's Time & Attendance add-on lets employees clock in and out of their shifts on their own smartphones, filling in their timesheets automatically. The owner sees scheduled hours against worked hours, gets lateness flagged and exports a payroll report. The add-on also lists clock-in reminders by email and push, and GPS restrictions.
A worked example
A cleaning company in Cardiff with 8 part-time cleaners, a supervisor and the owner (10 employees) already plans its rota in RotaCloud Standard ($27£20€24A$38C$38 a month) and adds Time & Attendance ($12£9€11A$17C$17 a month for that band). Cleaners clock in when they arrive at their first home and out when they leave the last.
Before
Paper timesheets about 15 minutes a week over per cleaner, and 2 hours a week of checking
After
Timesheets built from clock-ins, with about 30 minutes a week of checking
What it's worth
About $363£273€325A$524C$513 a month saved: $149£112€133A$215C$211 of paid time that wasn't worked, plus 1.5 fewer hours a week of checking (1.5 × 4.3 = 6.45 hours at $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour, about $214£161€192A$309C$303). That is against $39£29€35A$56C$55 a month for RotaCloud Standard with Time & Attendance.
How to set it up
- Add Time & Attendance to your RotaCloud plan and set up the payroll report in the format your payroll software or accountant uses.
- Tell cleaners why you're doing it and what location data it uses before you switch it on.
- Turn on clock-in reminders so nobody forgets at the first home of the day.
- Each week, review the flagged differences between scheduled and worked hours before approving timesheets.
- Check the payroll report against a couple of cleaners' days before sending it to payroll.
What goes wrong
- Location data is personal data under UK GDPR. Tell staff what's collected and why, and use it only for working hours.
- Travel time between clients' homes counts as working time for minimum wage purposes. Make sure timesheets and pay include it, not just the time inside each home.
- The $12£9€11A$17C$17 add-on price is for the 6 to 10 employee band and rises with headcount, like the base plan. The page doesn't say whether prices include VAT.
- A forgotten clock-out turns a 3-hour clean into a 9-hour one. Check flagged shifts every week before payroll.