Item: UKG Ready
Rating: 9
Author: Jim Malik, CPA CMA

Support Rating

Kronos is constantly working to enhance this product and is able to roll out enhancements directly to time clocks over the internet. When we have had issues, they have been quick to respond and correct the situation in a timely manner. They are an industry leader and have the resources necessary to support their customers.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We utilize Kronos Workforce Ready throughout our entire organization. It eliminated paper time cards and the errors that resulted from their use (such as employees grabbing the wrong time card and as a result punching the wrong card). We no longer have to store time cards since everything is stored in the cloud.

Pros and Cons

The cloud based service has a good track record of reliability. We have seen few outages and when they occurred they were resolved quickly.
Managers appreciate the ability to monitor time punches remotely. They are able to connect using any PC or cell phone with a web browser.
The time clocks are responsive and run efficiently. In addition, they seem to be durable and don't have the mechanical issues that are present with time clocks that use paper cards.

The pricing for Kronos Workforce Ready equipment was somewhat higher than competing products that we evaluated. We felt that the more robust feature set that Kronos had justified the additional cost. Furthermore, the Kronos time clocks appeared to be more durable.
The time clocks did not ship with the biometric fingerprint scanners installed. We had to install those ourselves. This was easy for our organization to overcome but entities with less technical skills may find that to be inappropriate.
Kronos included a warranty period for the time clock which began when they shipped the clocks. I feel that they should not begin the warranty period until the system has been implemented. It didn't matter to us since our clocks have not had problems.

Return on Investment

We no longer need to maintain a stock of unused time cards and no longer need to store used time cards since this is a paperless system. In addition it is easier and faster to find historical data.
Problems with employees time (missed punches for example) can be corrected more quickly (at any time) instead of at the end of a pay period when managers may not remember what actually took place in the no longer recent past.
There is no concern for employees clocking other employees in (accidentally or otherwise) since we opted to utilize the optional biometric fingerprint readers.

Alternatives Considered

Simplex Heritage

Simplex Heritage was the time card system that we utilized prior to implementing Kronos Workforce Ready. The system was generally reliable but we did see several times that the machines broke down and required a visit by a Simplex technician to fix it. Service was not generally available in a timely manner. If one of our Kronos clocks has a issue (none have so far) employees could simply clock in on a different clock on our network. The Simplex system had very limited capabilities and almost non-existing reporting ability. The Kronos system was much more robust in capabilities and new features and enhancements can be downloaded to the clocks. As a result, they are somewhat future proof.

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Usability
Product Reputation
Vendor Reputation

The most important factor we were looking for was a system that would reduce the amount of time it takes for us to process payroll.

Likelihood to Recommend

Kronos Workfoce Ready is well suited for employers with a large group of hourly employees and a desire to reduce paper and have an easily managed web based interface. For employers with only salaried employees it would not likely be appropriate.

Kronos Workforce Ready speeds up the payroll cycle.

Overall Satisfaction with Kronos Workforce Ready