The Need

Management needs to replace the clumsy and time-consuming manual system used to track the hours worked by freelance and part-time employees.  Dealing with payroll errors, both real and perceived, causes morale problems and consumes time better allocated elsewhere.

The Challenge

The office manager needs to simplify record keeping while making it less time-consuming.  It would be better yet if the record keeping could be the employee's responsibility.  And, since the company expects to grow rapidly in the next year or two, the replacement system must accommodate a probable flood of new employees and rapid changes in business processes.

The ReFrame Application Service Grid Solution

ReFrame was used to create an "email time clock."  Each employee can now simply send in an email with days, dates, and times worked.  A ReFrame adapter provides the connection to the company email system.

This application parses each incoming message and passes the relevant information to an Excel spreadsheet through a second ReFrame adapter. The finance staff has a comfortable tool for their use, the Excel spreadsheet, from which they can easily generate paychecks and track activity.  ReFrame provides the logic integrates with the email system and spreadsheet.

Grow, Evolve, Accommodate Change

The increased computational load from the expected rush of new employees can easily be accommodated by distributing the application, or some subset of it, written for the ReFrame Application Service Grid across additional computers.

Operational changes can also be quickly implemented.  ReFrame's very granular structure produces easily understood, and thus easily changed, rules.  The ReFrame Exception Engine adds an important level of safety and comfort when making changes.  ReFrame's combination of easily understood rules and the ReFrame Exception Engine makes it as reasonable to accommodate business wants as business needs.

When growth renders the Excel spreadsheet inadequate for managing employee hours and payroll, a new application can be written and added to the ReFrame Application Service Grid.

ReFrame enables you to quickly, easily, and safely accommodate the changing size and shape of your business.