Answers varied widely when employees who currently use a time clock were asked if they had ever done anything to receive more pay such as clocking in earlier or out later than scheduled, having someone else clock them in or out, neglecting to clock out for lunch or breaks, adding time to timesheets, or other activity along these lines.
Just under three quarters (73%) of people in India who currently use a time clock admitted to engaging in one or more of these behaviours, followed by 72% in China, 51% of those surveyed in Australia, 49% in Mexico, 37% of those surveyed in the UK, 33% of those surveyed in France, 33% in the UK and 26% of those surveyed in Canada.
Around the world, use of time clocks is pervasive. Among employed adults, usage was the highest in Mexico with 82% of employed adults saying that they currently use or have in the past used a time clock to clock in and out of work. The US was second with 77. In the UK, the figure was 48%
When asked how they felt when they clocked in to work for the day, the most popular response in every region except France was "looking forward to starting a good day's work."
In France, it was a different story with 30% of those surveyed who clock into work having the feeling of being "bored with my job."
When it came to how they felt when they clocked out of work for the day, those surveyed in Australia, Canada, India, and Mexico, most commonly selected that they felt "satisfied with a hard day's work". In the U.S. and China, the top response was "excited to start my free time", and among those surveyed in the UK and France, it was "thrilled to be getting away from my job."
Joyce Maroney, director of The Workforce Institute, Kronos, said: "We have run surveys on the number of employees in the US who admit to cheating on their time sheets in the past, but we have never surveyed on this topic in other regions around the world.
"The vast disparity amongst regions is startling with India leading the pack at 73% and Canada having the fewest number of people with 26%. Organisations with employees around the world need to take a hard look at their time keeping technologies and policies and make sure that they are using the latest technology, configuring their solutions appropriately, and setting correct policies to minimise this kind of fraud."
The survey was conducted online in October within the US among 2,194 adults (aged 18 and over), of whom 1,087 are employed full-time and/or part time and 1,657 have used/currently use a time clock; within Canada among 1,012 adults (aged 18 and older) of whom 649 are employed full-time and/or part-time and 548 have used/currently use; and within Great Britain, France, Australia, Mexico, China, and India 6,067 adults (aged 16 and older) of whom 3,867 are employed full-time and/or part-time and 3,266 have used/currently use a time clock.
