Systems and Methods for Collecting and Accruing Labor Activity Data under Many-to-Many Employment Relation and with Distributed Access

Inventor: Li Tan. Assignee: Washington State University
United States Patent No. US 8,959,594 B2. Filed: Janary 28, 2013. Issued: February 17, 2015

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Abstract: A system and methods enable distributed users to have controlled and distributed access to labor data, and the labor data are produced as the results of monitoring and accruing labor activities with many-to-many employment relation. One method further comprises: (1) a method of importing data as the result of monitoring labor activities, and resolving the employment relation under which a labor activity is performed; (2) a method of accruing labor activities using input data according to the employment relation identified by method (1), and; (3) a method of enabling controlled access to labor and payroll data for distributed users. Labor monitoring software system (a) accrues labor activities from field-collected labor monitoring data, (b) identifies the employment relation, and (c) prepares payroll report based on the terms defined in the employment relation. Authorized users may access the data in raw or processed format from a variety of Internet-connected devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. The system may be used in a variety of applications in which an employee has multiple employers, and distributed access to labor data is needed.