07-02-2007

New ProMark system helps companies comply with EU working time directive

The working time directive from the European Union imposes a massive amount of administrative work on British companies, but they can ease the burden with the new release of the ProMark time and attendance system from Mark Information UK.

The directive is a piece of health and safety legislation covering working hours, rest periods, leave and disruptive work patterns. Specifically, it says no-one should work more than 48 hours a week (including overtime), they should rest for at least 11 consecutive hours in every 24, they should take breaks when the working day is longer than six hours, they should have at least four weeks paid annual leave, and anyone doing night work should average no more than eight hours in any 24-hour period.

Under the directive, companies will have to maintain accurate records of employees’ working time and breaks. Following input from Mark Information’s customers about the functionality they needed from such a system, ProMark 2.90 incorporates many new features designed to help companies comply with the new directive. Now businesses can monitor accurately if their workforce is in compliance with the directive and produce up-to-date reports in real-time when required.

Says Mark Information UK’s managing director Paul Doherty: “As is the case with a lot of new legislation, many companies are not fully aware of what they need to do to comply with it and often only realise they need to do something when there are some prosecutions. If businesses don’t comply now they can potentially be fined and the directors of the company can be put in prison. With ProMark 2.90, they can meet the requirements of the directive now and not have to worry about future compliance problems.”