[2026 Latest] Ensuring Objective Records and Compliance with the Industrial Safety and Health Act through Facial Recognition

As work styles continue to diversify, many companies are facing a major hurdle: accurately tracking working hours. Since the amendment of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, it is now mandatory to record the working hours of all employees—including those in managerial and supervisory positions—using objective methods. In our consulting experience, we still see many cases where companies rely on self-reporting, resulting in records that are disconnected from reality. The solution to fundamentally eliminating these compliance risks and driving DX (Digital Transformation) in labor management is facial recognition cloud-based attendance systems. This article explores the latest labor management techniques for achieving both legal compliance and operational efficiency.

1. The True Nature of "Objective Records" Required by the Industrial Safety and Health Act

Currently, companies are required to manage working hours based on objective records such as time cards, IC cards, and computer logs, in accordance with the "Guidelines on Measures to be Taken by Employers for the Proper Monitoring of Working Hours." In our consulting practice, we often encounter management teams who mistakenly believe that records are not required for those under discretionary work systems or in managerial positions. However, under the Industrial Safety and Health Act, "all workers" are covered from the perspective of health management.

As statistical data shows, the transition from self-reporting to biometric authentication is accelerating. This is not merely to improve the convenience of clocking in, but primarily to avoid legal risks arising from "impersonation" or "forgetting to clock in." Even in the context of in-house EC development and growth support, facial recognition is proving highly effective for managing the working hours of employees who do not use PCs, such as logistics warehouse and retail store staff.

2. Limitations of Self-Reporting Systems and Why Facial Recognition is Chosen

A common issue in the workplace is "hidden overtime," where employees underreport their hours to minimize overtime pay. With self-reporting systems, companies can no longer get away with claiming they "didn't know the actual situation." By implementing a facial recognition cloud attendance system, clocking in is completed within 0.3 seconds just by standing in front of the device, and the data is stored in the cloud in a tamper-proof format.

The greatest advantage of facial recognition is that it is "contactless" and "keyless." With no risk of lost or shared IC cards, even team members busy with proprietary EC site development and growth support projects can maintain accurate records without stress. This frees administrators from end-of-month tallying tasks, allowing them to focus on checking for anomalies.

3. Strengthening Compliance Systems Through Labor DX

The goal of HR/Labor DX is not merely digitization, but "proactive prevention" through the utilization of collected data. Real-time working hour data captured via facial recognition can be configured to automatically notify both the employee and their supervisor the moment a threshold is about to be exceeded. In our actual consulting engagements, we have seen cases where implementing this "predictive management" framework reduced the risk of health issues and legal citations resulting from excessive overtime by more than 80%.

Furthermore, as a cloud-based solution, it enables centralized management of staff movements across remote locations, satellite offices, and even between different stores. The ability to maintain meticulous management oversight while accommodating diverse work styles is precisely why facial recognition has become indispensable in modern corporate management.

4. Common Challenges and Steps to Resolution at Implementation Sites

Key concerns during implementation include privacy considerations and the preparation of the network environment. In on-site support, we begin by carefully explaining security specifications to employees—for instance, that "facial data is stored as numerical feature values, and the images themselves are discarded." Additionally, it is crucial to design the system to prevent missed records due to connectivity issues by selecting terminals that allow for offline time-stamping. By following these steps diligently, you can minimize resistance on the ground and ensure a smooth transition to full operation.