Labor Management. NOW Simple.

It has been almost six months since the last TimeForge Newsletter went out , and we apologize!   We have been so busy adding new functionality and improving TimeForge that we haven’t taken the time to inform you about all of the new TimeForge features.   As most of you know, we performed a massive update to TimeForge on Thursday and Friday, delivering enhanced functionality just in time for Halloween (or, if you keep up with football, in time for the Texas Tech vs. Texas game)!

We have officially split TimeForge into three distinct products, and each product can be combined together as needed for your business.   These three products include:

• TimeForge Scheduling, our flagship product continues to be the best labor scheduling tool available , fast, streamlined, and easy to use!

• TimeForge Attendance, a powerful time and attendance package that can enforce the labor schedule, provide detailed employee time cards, and directly export your payroll!

• TimeForge Daily Log, a valuable communications tool useful for recording notes and numbers about maintenance, employee problems, deposit logs, sales figures, and much more!

Some of the improvements to the TimeForge products are detailed in Part 2 and Part 3.

Are complicated employee scheduling practices taking up precious time at your business? Are you making the best possible labor schedule? How much does a bad labor schedule cost? Did you know that TimeForge can reduce turnover, improve retention and increase profits at your business? Sign up today for a free trial!

Related articles or pages

• TimeForge Newsletter , November Edition (Part 3)
• TimeForge Newsletter , November Edition (Part 2)
• Employee Scheduling Done Right – The Newest Version of TimeForge
• Congratulations TimeForge!
• Building a Labor Schedule is Complicated. Use Tools to Keep Managers and Employees Happy.

New and existing TimeForge users received a major upgrade on Thursday night, as the TimeForge system was updated to provide more flexible scheduling, new time and attendance functionality, and brand new Communication Log features! Some of the new features include:

• Availability Requests have been upgraded and are now easier to use. Outstanding employee availability requests are presented as part of the schedule making process and employees are constantly informed of any changes to their availability.

• Never accidentally schedule staff before or after closing the store! Open and closing times can be configured while making the schedule, and warnings are displayed when staff are scheduled before the store is open or after the store is closed.

• Employees are automatically notified by text message when management approves a shift swap.

• Export punch-in and punch-out times to payroll for easy processing. TimeForge has partnered with CompuPay, a leading provider of payroll for small-to-medium retailers and restaurants. Hours can be exported to CompuPay with a single click!

• Easily identify which employees need to work in specific stations or sections, and schedule these positions with a single click. No more typing “Section 1″ or “Pizza” or “Lane 3″ when making schedules!

• In accordance with state and federal laws, each position (or job code) can have multiple pay rates, depending on the time of day. Always make sure that employees are paid appropriately!

• Employees can now search for a shift to pick up, or can pick up any shift that has been given up shift by another employee , if approved by management.

• Support for delivery drivers is now included! Drivers can enter tips and mileage for their shifts directly into the TimeForge Time and Attendance module.

• Support for break and meal periods has been enhanced, and managers can now create specific break and meal periods for each shift when building the labor schedule.

• Decisions about your business that include the weather can now be made directly from TimeForge. TimeForge includes weather forecasts on the “To Do Today” page.

• New reports! New TimeForge reports include summary reports for time and attendance, as well as several new scheduling reports.

• Are employees asking for the ability to print the schedule, or a copy of the request log? A setting inside of TimeForge will allow employees to print their own copy of the schedule, breaks, or requests.

• Does your shift need more information than TimeForge normally provides? You can now enter shift notes directly on to the schedule while building shifts!

• Significant improvements to TimeForge Attendance were made , time and attendance entries can be sorted a number of different ways, and a note can be entered for each attendance entry.

As always, feedback on the new TimeForge functionality is always appreciated!

Related articles or pages

• What's New in Employee Scheduling? (Part 2)
• TimeForge Newsletter , November Edition (Part 1)
• Spend Less Time Scheduling Labor – More Time Managing Your Business
• Building a Labor Schedule is Complicated. Use Tools to Keep Managers and Employees Happy.
• Time and Attendance – Improved in TimeForge

As recently reported on Nation’s Restaurant News, “(Sep. 27) Get in, set up an effective staff schedule and move on to the next task: that’s what most restaurateurs want out of their scheduling software. But knowing that doesn’t necessarily make their search for the right software any easier, as the schedulers available today run the gamut from elementary point-of-sale-system modules to high-end workforce management applications.

The trick, some operators indicate, is to find the right system or service for your operation without buying features that will go unused.”

NRN reviewed two products in their article:

• ScheduleAnywhere
• ScheduleWriter

TimeForge.com has all of the features of both of the reviewed products, with an easier to use interface, an integrated AutoScheduler, and better pricing! But then, I suppose we are biased.

You can read the full article at Nation’s Restaurant News. They require registration, but the registration is free.

How long does it take to make your labor schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, club, or business.

Related articles or pages

• National Restaurant Association 2009
• Support for Salaried Employees from within Dinerware
• Spend Less Time Scheduling Labor – More Time Managing Your Business
• Simple, Fast Employee Scheduling
• Restaurant, Bar, and Club Scheduling Options (Part 2 of 4)

The Offer: Purchase the most advanced labor scheduling system available, TimeForge.com, before midnight on October 31, 2007, send us an email explaining how TimeForge.com has made your life easier, and receive 10% off of our monthly prices!

The Details: To qualify for the offer, login to your TimeForge.com account by going to the website, and then click on the “Setup” tab, and then click on “Payment Options“. Sign up for one of our monthly plans, which are $9, $24, $49, or $98 per month (per location).

Note: Sign up will require either a monthly credit card draft or e-check draft.

Then, send a quick one-or-two line email to support@timeforge.com explaining how TimeForge has made your life simple. If you want to write more, feel free! Our support team will immediately reduce your monthly bill by 10% (for the next 12 months) upon receipt of the email.

The new monthly rate will be $8.10, $21.60, $44.10, and $88.20 respectively (per location).

You could save more than $115 for every location / unit in your business!

Why are we offering a discount? The TimeForge.com development team has been hard at work developing the next major release of TimeForge.com (version 2.0). Version 2.0 is right around the corner, and will include many new features, such as employee messaging and overtime calculations.

We will be increasing the monthly pricing to account for the increased functionality. However, we will honor the current monthly pricing structure for at least 12 months for all of our clients, and you will receive all of the new features of TimeForge.com at no additional cost!

Still not sure? Go visit the TimeForge.com Return On Investment Calculator and find out how much employee scheduling is costing you. You’re going to be surprised!

How long does it take to make your labor schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, club, or business.

Related articles or pages

• Spend Less Time Scheduling Labor – More Time Managing Your Business
• Labor Scheduling Software Article at Nation's Restaurant News
• Is Employee Scheduling Complicated? Not Anymore!
• Employee Scheduling Done Right – The Newest Version of TimeForge
• Employee Scheduling Complicated? Not Anymore!