A court recently handed Susan Homewood, a former secretary at the Winchester Royal Hampshire's County Hospital, a community order for 100 unpaid hours of work for falsifying payroll records, according to The Hampshire Chronicle. Homewood submitted 48 timesheets claiming overtime work, but a jury found the majority did not have valid signatures from authorized staff members. In fact, only five were genuine.

It was common practice for secretaries at the hospital to fill in their own timesheets and leave them out for proper approval if supervisors were busy, the Daily Echo reports. Homewood alleges she was adhering to that protocol and says she does not know where the forged signatures came from.

Businesses can avoid unauthorized overtime and employee fraud by installing advanced payroll processing equipment. Timeclocks can accurately track time and attendance through employee punches in and out of shifts, with some requiring workers to scan a badge, enter a PIN or scan their fingerprints for verification. By establishing a protocol in which employees do sign in upon arriving for work and leave when all tasks are completed, supervisors can avoid reporting mistakes. 

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