Employers in South Africa can manage the leave records of their staff members more efficiently by adopting the web-based Leave Management System, introduced to the local market by Cost Concepts, a business consultancy that specialises in uncovering cost saving opportunities with organisational overheads.
Cost Concepts managing director Rozlyn Stanton points out that the locally-developed Leave Management System is targeted at SMEs, which are still predominantly reliant on various paper-based HR systems that are inherently prone to inaccuracies.
“The Leave Management System eliminates physical movements and paper trails associated with traditional leave processes, thereby reducing errors that can negatively affect the business and its employees,” she explains.
“Failing to record all leave applications has a direct cost implication as too much leave pay gets paid out when employees leave. Due to the fact that the system is entirely automated, all employee records are recorded and stored permanently, and can be viewed at any time to swiftly resolve any disputes related to leave.”
Designed for local use
Stanton highlights the fact that the Leave Management System is designed specifically around South Africa’s unique public holiday structure. “Many other automated leave systems are created overseas, and do not take local public holidays into account. Our system is fully compliant with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and also recognises each public holiday while accounting for the country’s unique ‘Monday’ holidays, which occur when the actual public holiday falls on a Sunday.”
According toStanton, the Leave Management System is also able to swiftly identify any patterns related to sick leave, and alerts managers via email of the exact date that an employee is due back at work. “Many paper-based systems are prone to human error, and employees often return to work a day later than the agreed date without the knowledge of management, which can prove to be costly in the long-term.”
Stanton adds that the system provides managers with all the necessary information to make informed decisions based on an individual employee’s leave requests, while significantly reducing the time and overhead costs involved with traditional administration. “The Leave Management System also benefits employees, who are provided with instant access to application forms, leave records and audit logs, thereby ensuring complete transparency.”
No upfront costs
Each company that adopts the Leave Management System is provided with its own dedicated URL. Stanton adds: “Employees and managers simply have to provide their log-in details on the domain page to gain access to the system, where they can upload various documents such as sick notes, which can be written into reports before being exported to Excel or PDF documents.”
The Leave Management System officially went live in January 2012 following two years of development and pilot testing. “The Leave Management System involves no upfront costs, and clients pay for the service on a monthly basis, and are not bound by any contracts. What’s more, we offer a free 30 day trial period, where prospective clients have the opportunity to experience the benefits of the system first-hand, without any obligation of payment,” Stanton concludes.
The monthly administration fee of the Leave Management System is just R250, excluding VAT, for up to 50 users. For larger companies, an additional R3 per employee is charged. Companies with less than five users qualify to receive the system free-of-charge. For more information visit www.webleave.co.za