Deputy – An Employee Scheduling Solution

Many business owners feel like they’re spending too much time managing their staffs and too little time growing their companies. Deputy is a platform with a solution to this problem. Deputy offers tools for handling the day-to-day tasks associated with running a business, focusing on employee scheduling, communication, and attendance tracking.

Deputy has created a system that ensures managers will never be caught off guard when their employees call in sick. Using the platform’s rostering tool, you can quickly find a staff member who’s available to cover any shift, and notify that person about the scheduling change in real-time via SMS, email, or the Deputy mobile app. The substitute employee can accept the shift change right away, and then “clock in” using the Deputy iPad app (Deputy Kiosk) upon arrival at work. Deputy’s time tracking and attendance features automatically keep a record of when each employee started and ended the workday. Using built-in geo-location and face detection features, you even have the option to visually track when your employees have started and stopped their shifts.

Quickly approve timesheets at the end of each week by clicking the “Approve” button in Deputy. Thanks to its integration with a number of payroll providers— including QuickBooks, Xero, ZenPayroll, and others—you can automatically pull in the necessary data to ensure your employees always get paid on time. Deputy also offers a number of group communication and task management tools, as well.

Practical Uses:

• Find an employee to cover a shift when someone calls in sick
• Share announcements with everyone at your company
• Create task lists and assign tasks to other managers
• Keep detailed records of which employees are struggling at work

Insider Tips:

• Download Deputy Kiosk to allow employees to start/stop shifts from an iPad
• Generate reports to pinpoint any workplace irregularities
• Use the geo-location feature to ensure employees are at the right location when checking in for work
• Deputy integrates with a number of web-based payroll solutions

What we liked:

• Managers can track their staff’s availability and upcoming leave requests
• Employees can make company announcements from the Deputy Kiosk
• The iPhone app lets users see who is working at any time
• Deputy is meant to be used by both management and employees

What we didn’t like:

• Payroll integration is not available with the Starter plan

Alternatives:

• Nimble Schedule – httphttp://www.nimbleschedule.com
• ShiftPlanning – http://www.shiftplanning.com
• When I Work – http://wheniwork.com

Company Info:

• Launched: 2008
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Sydney, Australia
• Founded by: Steve Shelley and Ashik Ahmed
• Web site: http://www.deputy.com

Costs:

• Starter plan is free
• Premium plan is $1 per person
• Flexi plan is $2 per active person
• Ultimate plan is $400