Senior Time Attendance Exception Specialist

UL Research; United Arab Emirates; Remote; AED 290,000 - 469,000; Full time

Job summary

UL Research in the United Arab Emirates is seeking a Senior Time Attendance Exception Specialist to oversee the identification, investigation, and resolution of timekeeping discrepancies. The role focuses on ensuring accurate attendance data, reviewing missed punches, and supporting payroll integrity in a fully remote environment.

You will collaborate with HR, payroll, operations, and workforce management to strengthen timekeeping controls, develop exception-handling procedures, and deliver

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in HR, Business Administration, Accounting, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
• Professional certification in HR operations, payroll administration, workforce management, or timekeeping systems is advantageous.
• Significant experience in time and attendance administration, payroll operations, HR shared services, or workforce management.
• Strong understanding of attendance policies, working-hour records, shift schedules, and timekeeping procedures.
• Demonstrated experience investigating attendance discrepancies and resolving timekeeping exceptions.
• Familiarity with biometric attendance systems, electronic time clocks, workforce scheduling platforms, and employee self-service systems.
• Experience reconciling attendance data with payroll records and HR information systems.
• Knowledge of overtime, leave, lateness, absence, and shift-related attendance rules.
• Understanding of UAE employment requirements relating to working hours, attendance records, and payroll administration.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, lookup functions, formulas, and data validation.
• Experience with HRIS, time and attendance software, payroll platforms, or enterprise resource planning systems.
• Strong analytical and investigative skills, with the ability to identify unusual attendance patterns.
• Excellent attention to detail when reviewing large volumes of timekeeping records.
• Ability to interpret attendance policies and apply consistent exception resolution procedures.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for coordinating with employees, managers, HR, and payroll teams.
• Ability to manage high-volume exception queues and meet strict payroll cut-off deadlines.
• High standards of confidentiality, accuracy, accountability, and professional integrity.

Responsibilities

• Monitor employee time and attendance records to identify missing, inconsistent, duplicated, or unusual entries.
• Review daily attendance exceptions, including missed clock-ins, missed clock-outs, incomplete shifts, and incorrect time entries.
• Investigate discrepancies between employee timesheets, biometric records, access logs, approved schedules, and attendance management systems.
• Validate attendance corrections against supporting documentation, employee explanations, and authorized managerial approvals.
• Review late arrivals, early departures, unauthorized absences, extended breaks, and unrecorded working periods.
• Identify attendance irregularities involving shift changes, schedule swaps, overtime assignments, and flexible working arrangements.
• Analyze recurring attendance exceptions and identify patterns that may indicate system errors, process weaknesses, or potential policy violations.
• Coordinate with HR representatives, line managers, and payroll teams to resolve outstanding attendance discrepancies.
• Verify the accuracy of attendance adjustments before payroll processing deadlines.
• Review employee leave records, approved absences, public holidays, and other attendance-related adjustments.
• Monitor exception resolution timelines and ensure unresolved cases are escalated appropriately.
• Reconcile attendance data across HR information systems, payroll platforms, workforce scheduling applications, and timekeeping databases.
• Support periodic audits of employee attendance records, adjustment histories, and approval workflows.
• Prepare daily, weekly, and monthly attendance exception reports, trend analyses, and management dashboards.
• Maintain detailed records of identified exceptions, investigations, supporting evidence, corrections, and approvals.
• Review attendance system configurations and business rules to identify potential causes of recurring exceptions.
• Support user acceptance testing and validation of attendance management system updates.
• Develop standardized exception-handling procedures, review checklists, and escalation guidelines.
• Recommend improvements to timekeeping controls, attendance data accuracy, and exception resolution workflows.
• Protect confidential employee attendance and personal information through appropriate access controls and data security practices.

Skills

Time & attendance administration

Payroll operations

HRIS proficiency

Microsoft Excel

Analytical thinking

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR, Business Administration, or related field

Tools

HRIS

Timekeeping software

Biometric clocks

Payroll platforms

Job description

Job Title: Senior Time Attendance Exception Specialist

Location: United Arab Emirates (Remote)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Work Arrangement: 100% Remote — Work From Home

Level: Senior

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Time Attendance Exception Specialist to oversee the identification, investigation, verification, and resolution of employee timekeeping and attendance discrepancies. The role focuses on ensuring the accuracy of attendance records, identifying irregular clock-in and clock-out activities, reviewing missed punches, validating schedule deviations, and resolving exceptions that may affect payroll and workforce reporting. The successful candidate will collaborate with HR, payroll, operations, and workforce management teams to maintain accurate attendance data, strengthen timekeeping controls, and improve attendance administration processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Monitor employee time and attendance records to identify missing, inconsistent, duplicated, or unusual entries.
• Review daily attendance exceptions, including missed clock-ins, missed clock-outs, incomplete shifts, and incorrect time entries.
• Investigate discrepancies between employee timesheets, biometric records, access logs, approved schedules, and attendance management systems.
• Validate attendance corrections against supporting documentation, employee explanations, and authorized managerial approvals.
• Review late arrivals, early departures, unauthorized absences, extended breaks, and unrecorded working periods.
• Identify attendance irregularities involving shift changes, schedule swaps, overtime assignments, and flexible working arrangements.
• Analyze recurring attendance exceptions and identify patterns that may indicate system errors, process weaknesses, or potential policy violations.
• Coordinate with HR representatives, line managers, and payroll teams to resolve outstanding attendance discrepancies.
• Verify the accuracy of attendance adjustments before payroll processing deadlines.
• Review employee leave records, approved absences, public holidays, and other attendance-related adjustments.
• Monitor exception resolution timelines and ensure unresolved cases are escalated appropriately.
• Reconcile attendance data across HR information systems, payroll platforms, workforce scheduling applications, and timekeeping databases.
• Support periodic audits of employee attendance records, adjustment histories, and approval workflows.
• Prepare daily, weekly, and monthly attendance exception reports, trend analyses, and management dashboards.
• Maintain detailed records of identified exceptions, investigations, supporting evidence, corrections, and approvals.
• Review attendance system configurations and business rules to identify potential causes of recurring exceptions.
• Support user acceptance testing and validation of attendance management system updates.
• Develop standardized exception-handling procedures, review checklists, and escalation guidelines.
• Recommend improvements to timekeeping controls, attendance data accuracy, and exception resolution workflows.
• Protect confidential employee attendance and personal information through appropriate access controls and data security practices.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Accounting, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
• Professional certification in HR operations, payroll administration, workforce management, or timekeeping systems is advantageous.
• Significant experience in time and attendance administration, payroll operations, HR shared services, or workforce management.
• Strong understanding of attendance policies, working-hour records, shift schedules, and timekeeping procedures.
• Demonstrated experience investigating attendance discrepancies and resolving timekeeping exceptions.
• Familiarity with biometric attendance systems, electronic time clocks, workforce scheduling platforms, and employee self-service systems.
• Experience reconciling attendance data with payroll records and HR information systems.
• Knowledge of overtime, leave, lateness, absence, and shift-related attendance rules.
• Understanding of UAE employment requirements relating to working hours, attendance records, and payroll administration.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, lookup functions, formulas, and data validation.
• Experience with HRIS, time and attendance software, payroll platforms, or enterprise resource planning systems.
• Strong analytical and investigative skills, with the ability to identify unusual attendance patterns.
• Excellent attention to detail when reviewing large volumes of timekeeping records.
• Ability to interpret attendance policies and apply consistent exception resolution procedures.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for coordinating with employees, managers, HR, and payroll teams.
• Ability to manage high-volume exception queues and meet strict payroll cut-off deadlines.
• High standards of confidentiality, accuracy, accountability, and professional integrity.

What We Offer

• A 100% remote working arrangement based in the United Arab Emirates.
• Competitive compensation aligned with experience and professional expertise.
• Opportunities to contribute to workforce data accuracy and HR process improvements.
• Collaboration with HR, payroll, operations, and workforce management professionals.
• Professional development opportunities in timekeeping, attendance analytics, and HR operations.