From browsing social media to faking their logins, it’s become all too easy for workers to steal your most valuable asset as a business owner—time. This is why employee time theft is a major problem for companies of all niches and sizes.

As common the issue might be, it sometimes takes years to catch staff stealing. The sad part is that the longer it goes on, the more it costs you. The Statistic Brain Research Institute estimates that organisations are losing $50 billion each year from employee time theft.

You mustn’t overlook the potentially serious impact of misreported time on your business. Tiny discrepancies add up into huge numbers over months of fraudulent reporting. In the same way a small leak won’t flood a big boat all at once, it still causes it to sink after a while.

The good news is that advances in technology make time theft hard, if not impossible, for unscrupulous workers to get away with it any further. If you’re determined to prevent time theft, you’ll save a lot in wasted money and productivity.

Discouraging Time Theft in Your Remote Team

1. Establish clear rules

If many of your employees are new to remote working, they might be hazy on what behaviour is acceptable or not. So communicate to them what does and doesn’t qualify as time theft as well as the consequences.

Defining your policies helps them understand your expectations and ensures that you’ve given them a chance to ask for clarification or provide feedback before any mishaps.

Remember to cover the following:

• Coffee, lunch and other breaks
• Time-tracking
• Appropriate use of technology
• Timeliness
• Attendance

Get these rules in writing and see to it they’re in a place accessible to everyone. Store these in a cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox, send it to all company emails, or post it in your project management software.

2. Use time-tracking software

Since you can’t use a Bundy clock in a remote setting, you’ll need to find an alternative means to keep tabs on your staff. There are fortunately plenty of time-tracking software out there so pick one that has the best features to suit your needs.

Some features are more useful than others. IP recognition and GPS location-tracking, for instance, ensure that your people aren’t logged in from an unauthorised location and are tracking time for themselves.

Remember to provide the proper training so they know how to use the software. Give them enough time to get used to it as well. There may be some tracking mistakes in the beginning due to the learning curve, so be patient.

3. Keep them engaged

Working from home can be isolating, especially for those who aren’t used to it yet. They might have trouble determining where their work fits into the big picture or if their work really matters, leading to lower motivation. They may even lose sight of their career path.

As a leader, you must remind them how their work fits into the overall goals of your organisation as well as their own. Check in with them once a day to know what they’re working on and how they’re feeling. Connecting with them tells them they’re not alone.

Also, make sure to reward a job well done. Authentic employee recognition boosts morale and makes anyone feel valued. It pushes them to do better and helps create a positive workplace culture. Even if it’s a simple shout-out in the group chat, it encourages them to give more to the company.

4. Provide productivity resources

It’s easy to be in ‘work mode’ in an office setting, but it’s not always the case when remote. Help your virtual workers stay on track by giving them resources for managing their time.

Consider the following ideas:

• Compile a list of articles on time management and productivity, then post it somewhere accessible to everyone.
• Ask them to share their favourite ways to stay productive on the group chat.
• Reimburse them for any pre-approved courses and webinars that charge a fee to join.
• Offer workshops or training about working from home with tips from veteran online workers.

5. Offer them more

When people are working remotely, a typical nine-to-five schedule might not be ideal for them. They may have appointments to go to, errands to run and family members to take care of. Why not be more understanding of their situation?

Offering flexible hours reduces time theft since it gives them options. Rather than steal time to keep a prior commitment, they can make up for it at an earlier or later time of the day. It also allows them to work when they’re at their most productive.

Aside from a better work schedule, giving them a more competitive salary is another way to make them feel you care about them and that you value their work. They would be more inclined to perform better as they want to stay onboard with you.

Hire Reliable Workers to Begin With!

Time theft is a silent form of fraud that happens in any organisation. Be aware how and why it happens, then take the necessary steps to discourage such behaviour from happening. We hope the steps we’ve shared above can help you with that.

To further reduce the chances of your remote team taking part in time theft, hire reliable virtual employees to begin with. We at Remote Workmate can help with that too. Unlike freelancing marketplaces where you do everything yourself, we handle the heavy lifting (e.g. recruitment, payroll).