Software aids globally distributed workforce management.
Press Release Summary:
Offering multiple language support and advanced overtime calculations, Workforce Central® v6.1 includes built-in support for country-specific work rules and reporting that help organizations adhere to government regulations. It also enables users to work with wage and labor data in multiple currencies, as well as efficiently manage employment contracts. Designed for European SMB customers, Efficient v5.1, provides integrated suite of workforce management components.
Original Press Release:
Kronos® Expands Global Product Offering
Workforce Central® 6.1 includes major global enhancements
CHELMSFORD, Mass., Feb. 25, 2009 - Serving customers in more than 60 countries, Kronos® Incorporated recognizes the vast challenges associated with managing a globally distributed workforce. The latest version of the Kronos Workforce Central® suite (see "Kronos Announces Availability of Workforce Central 6.1") provides substantial new capabilities for organizations worldwide.
"Managing a global workforce can be a monstrous task," said Mick Adamson, Kronos vice president of international operations. "Variations in work rules, languages, and currencies have forced many organizations to deploy systems from multiple vendors or rely on expensive error-prone custom coding to meet their business requirements. Not only are these systems expensive to maintain, but they fail to provide a comprehensive view of an organization's labor costs on a global basis. With Workforce Central 6.1, organizations can now control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity within one configurable, centralized global system.
Global enhancements in Workforce Central 6.1 include:
Expanded language support
Kronos provides standard language support for Canadian French, Chinese, Dutch, English, European French, German, and Spanish. Organizations wishing to expand beyond these languages can also easily modify the application to accommodate their specific needs.
Advanced overtime calculations
Overtime calculations such as preprocessing, reverse allocation, and prorated overtime can be highly complex to manage, particularly throughout Asia and Europe. Workforce Central includes multiple enhancements to track and manage overtime including the ability to allocate overtime to departments in chronological or reverse chronological order; track overtime related to callback, float, and extra shifts; and prorate overtime between departments.
Enhanced compliance with government regulations
Unlike other products that require expensive custom coding to meet local requirements, Workforce Central 6.1 includes built-in support for country-specific work rules and reporting that help organizations adhere to government regulations and minimize compliance risk. Examples include:
o China: To protect employees from working excessive hours, the government enacted legislation requiring that managers and auditors monitor worker freedom of choice for overtime hours. Workforce Central now includes new features for viewing and approving overtime requests to help customers comply with this regulation.
o India: The central government's Factories Act requires all manufacturers to maintain time-related registers and statutory reports for employees. To help manufacturers comply with this regulation, Workforce Central now provides legislated working time reports, as well as new features to monitor overtime and time-based pay codes on a daily and hourly basis.
o Europe, China, and South America: In these regions it is common for overtime to be averaged over a period of time. New functionality in Workforce Central provides configurable settings to manage employee hours over extended timeframes and across multiple pay periods so that excess hours may be paid as overtime or banked for a later date.
Manage multiple currencies
Multinational organizations require sites to work with wage and labor data in their local currency. At the same time, regional and corporate management need to work with consolidated data in a single familiar currency. A new multi-currency feature enables users at all levels of the organization to view labor data in the currency of their choice.
Accurately and efficiently manage employment contracts
While the concept of "employment at will" is common in the U.S., employment contracts are widely used outside the U.S., particularly throughout Europe and in China. An employment contract is an agreement between an employee and their employer that states the exact nature of their business relationship. Workforce Central now provides centralized administration of contract employees' worked and unworked time with less manual oversight and processing, improving accuracy and efficiency while reducing errors.
Widespread availability of Kronos 4500(TM) terminal
Kronos is now licensed to provide the complete range of its Kronos 4500 data collection terminals in several new countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Fast-to-implement solution for European SMB customers
Concurrent with the global launch of Workforce Central 6.1, Kronos is also releasing Efficient 5.1, a major upgrade of its solution for small- to medium-sized businesses in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. New pre-configured processes and workflows for HR and operational management speed implementations and increase automation and efficiency. Efficient 5.1 provides an integrated suite of workforce management components including time and attendance, absence management, and access control, enabling organizations to control labor costs and improve productivity.
Availability
All applications are available for immediate shipment and rapid deployment. Availability of language support varies by region. For more information regarding Kronos solutions call (800) 225-1561.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in workforce management solutions that enable organizations to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. Tens of thousands of organizations in 60 countries - including more than half of the Fortune 1000® - use Kronos time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics applications. To learn how Kronos uniquely delivers complete automation and high-quality information in an easy-to-own solution, visit www.kronos.com.
