Using Biometric Timekeeping? Be Aware Of Potential Compliance Risks

Human resources professionals could certainly be excused for feeling frustrated with the fact that every technological advance improving business operations comes with new legal landmines to manage. For example, increased connectivity has greatly enhanced productivity opportunities. But at the same time, it has created new challenges with data management and integrity, off-the-clock work risks, and even management of "work from home" entitlement beliefs. Similarly, increased automation and other changes in manufacturing techniques that increase productivity could also mean challenges with collective bargaining agreements and labor relations.

And so it is with an increasingly popular way of managing timekeeping: "biometric" time clocks that record employee punch in and out times through the use of physically unique identifiers, such as hand, fingerprint or even retina scans. Through these devices, which require biometric information from a user when making a