UNIVERSAL TIME CLOCK, PAYROLL & POLICIES

Technology is available for a universal time clock and payroll system as well as an on-line personnel policy management system. The timeclock can be processed through touch-tone phones, credit card machines, cash registers, and, of course, computers. A standardized telecommunication timeclock would provide many benefits, but most importantly, it would serve as the foundation for universal payroll/benefits and a new currency.

For its own well-being, society needs to ensure that people allocate enough of their income to short-term and long-term needs. If we, the responsible people, do not require others to be responsible for themselves then we are requiring ourselves to be our brothers keepers. A universal payroll system can serve this function by establishing a number of basic accounts into which money is directed from pay. It would reduce the ability of politicians to use taxes to buy votes from the irresponsible people.

A universal timeclock and payroll system can also serve as a realtime policy administrator. The goal of a real-time policy administrator is to provide immediate objective feedback to workers who have poor work habits. Poor work habits harm the employee, co-employees and the employer. The lack of easy-to-use policy documentation results in poor performers not receiving optimal feedback to become more responsible. The lack of convenient documentation causes companies to face unnecessary litigation. Responsible co-workers carry chronic losers and suffer lost pay.

Objective, immediate performance feedback within the framework of a timeclock/payroll system is part of determining what a person is really worth. Individual worth is the basis of true capitalism if one is to be semantically honest with the word capital.* We can have, and need, a new currency system based on the true existential value of a person's life, time and hours.

Without a universal timeclock system, mankind is going to continue to suffer the problems of unstable currencies (inflation and speculation) until we have economic collapse. The imagined horrors of real objective time-keeping pale when compared to the horrors of economic collapse. In discussing a real-time, on-line policy manual, many people have complained of Big Brotherism. Fortunately, it has not been responsible people who have complained.

A universal payroll system is necessary if employment laws are to be changed from employer-mandated benefits to wage-based benefits. When companies no longer are required to manage people's personal responsibility then they will be willing to hire workers based on age, quantity, sex and marriage. The current benefits schemes results in discrimination against many demographic groups, legal laws notwithstanding.

Cost

What the U.S. Government loses in lost tax withholdings would more than pay for a universal timeclock and payroll system, both here and abroad. A restaurant in Richmond, Virginia, went bankrupt owing $1,000,000 in wage withholding taxes. Systems are available for providing total timeclock and payroll service in the Richmond area (700,000 people) for far less than $1,000,000. The money saved from uncollected nanny taxes would pay for the system. It would relieve future politicians from an untaxed nanny in their closet.

The money saved from evolving a new currency system would be far greater than the cost of a system. More problems would be solved by ending the attraction of bright, motivated people to currency speculation.

Accounts

A person will have a personnel file consisting of many accounts to ensure balanced protection of and responsibility by the individual. Income accounts reflect the source of wages and debit accounts reflect outlays. What's left after deductions is the person's disposable income. In effect, many of a person's accounts will be consolidated from other private and public sources.

Wage Source

Wages can be calculated as hourly, salary, overtime, personal, special, sick, holiday, bonus and/or vacation. Time-off accounts, e.g., sick or vacation, are automatically adjusted each pay period per the employee's status of employment.

Tax deductions

All the standard tax deductions can be managed: federal, state, local, FICA, etc. These, of course, would be eliminated with the adoption of single product transaction tax.

Accounts of Responsibility

24 in 4 1% Loan Repayment: Loans refinanced to promote a shorter workweek would be repaid automatically.

Sickness: A percentage of funds would be accrued in this account for the employee to use when sick. Once a maximum was reached, the deduction would be transferred to another account (pension) or to payout.

Healthcare & Community Service: Based on the employee's choice, a percentage of income would go to the health insurance account. The community service account would track the need concomitant hours of helping others in order to earn the right to have the community help the volunteer in times of health need.

Pensions: The employee would be required to choose a retirement standard of living based on the average earnings in lifehours*. The employee would be required to choose a year of retirement. Based on actuary tables, the employee would have a number of lifehours in wages credit to his pension account(s). Then, come hell or high water, that would be the source of his retirement. He would not be allowed to seek welfare support through political pork.

If people have drilled into their heads that they are going to live on what they save, then they will start saving. If we allow politicians to run for office with the promise of doing for others then responsible tax payers will be stuck with the cost of these political promises. The way to end this political pork is, in part, through a universal payroll system that requires self-responsibility.

The pension deductions would be directed by the employee into one of several production enterprises that have the mandate of improving the pricing of basic goods and services. A problem with many pension funds is the speculation in non-essential services. This causes pensioners to have inflation in basic goods and services. Any gains or dividends from funding non-essential goods and services are lost to inflation. This system is similar to social security, that is, mandatory pension contribution. The difference is that the Social Security Administration is a highly inflationary bureaucracy that dilutes the buying power of pension funds worse than any funding of private enterprise.

Business Benefits

Businesses and workers suffer from government regulations and mandates. As government taxes and mandates increase, employers pass the costs onto workers. Often the cost is in the form of firings because the employer cannot pass the cost onto customers. If the business cannot afford to provide the service, then the business no longer needs the employee. Politicized healthcare will result in the elimination of many services and discharge of many employees.

With universal payroll, business overhead will be reduced. Businesses will not suffer tax-payment problems, for tax payments are automatic.

Changing benefits from mandated hidden taxes to direct wage-based deductions will end discrimination against older employees. Senior workers are readily discharged because of more costly benefits. With wage-based benefits, companies will hire and retain senior workers for their ability. Age discrimination will decrease.

Individuals with domestic staff, e.g., nannies, maids or gardeners, can easily provide timeclock and payroll with little hassle. And, very importantly, the taxes will be collected in a real-time mode. Nannygates will be a thing of the past.

Standardized Policies and Demographics

An on-line personnel department with standardized policies allows immediate objective feedback to help individuals become more responsible. It permits development of statistical data to determine demographics of different groups. As a society we may have been mis-allocating our resources when a more efficacious approach is saying, "You'd have less problems if you did not come to work late."

Dependability: Lateness and Absences

A bank branch manager told me that she spent an average of 30 to 60 minutes each day counseling one or more of her 20 subordinates on being prompt and dependable. What a waste of good management skill and time! Why, to merely coddle and babysit people who get double time off from their job: 1) late to work and 2) time in the manager's office. What a waste!

If an electronic time clock automatically debited tardy employees by one hour for being late, America would become a land of people who better manage their time on and off the job for self, family and community. In my company, I know that an automatic, no questions asked, deduction of 30 minutes for lateness (work, break, or lunch) ended people's being late.

With a standardized, on-line policy manual, America's business could develop basic policies and debits for irresponsible performance. Ultimately, this will benefit the workers who lack the maturity to be responsible. Learning to be responsible on the job is more likely to improve off-job responsibility than to encourage irresponsibility. Is this system an abhorrent Big Brother or a Needed Disciplinary Father?

Warning: Anyone found stealing lifehours will be forever banned from participation in and rewards of Better Democracy and Capitalism.
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