When Empire Hall, Rochdale, an Edwardian Music hall first opened in 1904, ‘biometrics’ was truly in its infancy as fingerprints had only just started to be recorded three years earlier in the United Kingdom by Scotland Yard’s Fingerprint Bureau in 1901.
Roll the clock forward one hundred and thirteen years to 2017 and the Empire is still a live music venue but now biometrics play a pivotal role in monitoring staff attendance whilst maintaining SIA certification records ensuring the venue operates within the law.
The requirement
Empire Management approached timeware® in 2017 with the requirement of introducing a biometric attendance system to record and monitor employee attendance, absence & holiday information. They were particularly interested in recording the health & safety certification of staff and required a solution that would warn when certification was due to expire - a standard feature within the timeware® software.
The solution
A WiFi enabled v13 terminal utilising Suprema biometrics was installed and all 45 staff enrolled during an entertaining, if somewhat noisy night shift. First aid certificates and SIA documentation were scanned and stored within the timeware® personnel module. A customised IDS dashboard was also implemented that displayed the images of all security staff and first aiders currently in work alongside their qualifications and expiry dates.
The Empire Management are extremely happy with the timeware® solution as there is now irrefutable proof of staff attendance. Payroll processing time has been reduced from eight to one hour per week with the introduction of a ‘no-clock, no-pay’ policy and certificate records are readily available for local Council representatives to view, if and when required.
Recommendation
Asked if they felt that the timeware® system was value for money, the management team confirmed that there had been a saving of over £500 in wages during the first month going live.