Infor Workforce Management vs. Workday Time and Attendance: A Deep Dive for Complex Industry Needs

When it comes to enterprise workforce management, organizations are increasingly scrutinizing the capability of Scheduling and Time & Attendance systems. For industries like public sector, gaming, manufacturing, and retail, we are seeing companies look more and more at Workday's Time and Attendance and we want to analyze why we believe Workday just isn't going match up against Infor or any other mature Workforce management platform. Look, Workday is widely known for its UI and strong core HR capabilities. That said, it is often lacking in operational depth. In contrast, Infor WFM, purpose-built for complex labor environments and will consistently outpaces Workday in depth of functionality, compliance capability, union adaptability, and scheduling precision/optimization.

Below, we cover several industries and functional comparisons of the two:

Core Philosophies and Technology Foundations

Workday Time and Attendance is designed to complement Workday HCM. It emphasizes ease of use and integration within its broader ecosystem. Its time-tracking capabilities work well for professional, salaried, and knowledge workers who operate within predictable schedules.

Infor WFM, on the other hand, is an enterprise-grade labor management solution tailored for industries where scheduling complexity, union compliance, and labor optimization are daily realities. Its modular approach—Time, Scheduling, Absence, Forecasting—means it can serve both small deployments and large, intricate operations.

Platform Philosophy:

• Workday: Best for consolidated cookie cutter HRIS users prioritizing unified UX over granular control.

• Infor: Best for operations-driven enterprises requiring deep labor compliance, robust scheduling, and real-time labor cost visibility. Infor also matches up well against Workday's UX and unified platform when coupled with Infor's full suite Human Resources and Talent platform.

Sources:

• Workday Product Documentation (https://community.workday.com)

• Infor WFM Product Overview (https://www.infor.com/solutions/people/wfm)

Public Sector – Union Rules and Compliance

Public sector organizations—municipalities, transportation authorities, and public safety agencies—often deal with complex CBAs, shift differentials, on-call pay, and meal penalties. Here’s where the gaps widen:

Infor WFM:

• Natively supports collective bargaining agreements and can apply union rules at scale.

• Automates meal penalties, overtime eligibility, split shifts, and on-call premiums.

• Offers audit trails, grievance-ready reporting, and compliance dashboards.

• Offers an extensible scripted rules engine for the most complex labor rule requirements.

Workday:

• Limited configurability for non-standard rules. Often it requires custom development which may as well be a curse word in this industry these days.

• Less support for union-centric operations like fire departments or utilities. 

Example: The City of Corpus Christi uses Infor WFM to manage a complex set of rules for its shift-based and grant-funded workers across departments. Additionally, Infor seamlessly handles Fire and Police scheduling using their automated scheduling engine.

Sources:

• Infor Customer Success Stories (https://www.infor.com/customers)

Retail – Labor Forecasting and Shift Optimization

Retailers operate in highly volatile demand environments, requiring real-time forecasting and rapid shift adjustments. Time and attendance isn’t just about punching in, it’s about aligning labor to foot traffic.

Infor WFM:

• Includes advanced labor forecasting based on POS, traffic, and weather.

• Enables auto-scheduling to ensure compliance with local labor laws and minor regulations.

• Manages part-time vs. full-time optimization and enforces availability constraints.

Workday:

• Basic scheduling with limited automation.

• Doesn’t provide real-time labor demand forecasting.

• Better for headquarters or regional management, not frontline ops.

Example: Infor WFM is used by major global retailers to ensure optimized labor coverage during peak hours while controlling costs and compliance risks. Inovium has worked with and proven Infor's depth with retailers such as Spirit and Halloweens stores. Spencer's Gifts is the largest popup retailer in the world.

Sources:

• Nucleus Research Report: Infor WFM Delivers ROI in Retail (https://nucleusresearch.com)

Gaming & Hospitality – Flexibility and Mobile Capability

Casinos and resorts operate 24/7. Labor must be managed across multiple properties, functions, and roles—from dealers to front desk staff to facilities.

Infor WFM:

• Strong mobile capabilities with geofencing and biometric clock-ins.

• Supports day labor, badge-less clocking, and complex pay rules like tip allocation and comp time.

• Real-time labor costing and compliance visibility for shift managers.

• Support for Tips & Tokes complexity in a Union and Non-Union environment.

Workday:

• Mobile time entry available but lacks geo or biometric integrations.

• Weak support for gig labor or non-traditional employment types.

Example: Leading gaming resorts leverage Infor WFM to dynamically adjust schedules, respond to late checkouts, or accommodate unplanned absences across departments.

Sources:

• Infor Hospitality Suite Overview (https://www.infor.com/industries/hospitality)

Manufacturing – Labor Costing and Fatigue Management

In manufacturing, the difference between margin and loss often hinges on efficient labor management. Manufacturers need accurate tracking of labor by production line, shift, or job order.

Infor WFM:

• Tracks labor to the cost center or job code.

• Applies fatigue rules, monitors mandatory rest periods, and prevents unsafe scheduling.

• Integrates with ERP/MES for real-time labor costing.

Workday:

• Does not support job-based labor tracking.

• Weak fatigue or safety compliance features.

• Lacks native MES/ERP tie-ins without costly middleware.

Example: Infor WFM is used by manufacturers like International paper & Berry Global to manage thousands of employees across shifts, lines, and facilities—balancing safety and efficiency.

Sources:

• Infor Manufacturing Solutions (https://www.infor.com/industries/industrial-manufacturing)

Deeper Functional Comparison

1. Depth of Workforce Scheduling

• • Infor WFM: Built for complex scheduling from the ground up — think grant-funded roles, union labor rules, rotating shifts, demand forecasting, compliance automation, etc.
  • Workday: T&A is rudimentary, focused on white-collar, salaried populations. If you run a hospital, transit agency, or city with shift-based hourly staff — it falls flat.
  
  Winner: Infor, by miles, for operational scheduling.

2. Rules Engine & Compliance

• • Infor WFM: Powerful, configurable rules engine supports CBA rules, local labor laws, overtime thresholds, meal breaks, and fatigue management. Compliance automation is a strength.
  • Workday: Handles standard overtime rules, but anything outside the norm; expect heavy consulting or workarounds.
  Winner: Infor, especially for unionized or regulated environments.

3. Modular but Unified Platform

• • Infor: Time, Scheduling, Absence, Labor Forecasting, and Analytics are tightly integrated — but modular. You can deploy only what you need, then expand.
  • Workday: More monolithic. If you want T&A, you’re buying into the broader HCM ecosystem, and it’s less robust as a standalone module.
  
  Winner: Infor, for modular flexibility and TCO control.

4. Mobile, Geo, and Biometric Capabilities

• • Infor WFM: Supports mobile clock-ins, geofencing, biometric punches, badge readers, and more. Field-ready.
  • Workday: Has mobile support, but no deep geo or biometric time-capture capabilities.
  
  Winner: Infor, especially for field workers or decentralized operations.

5. Workforce Analytics

• • Infor WFM: Out-of-the-box operational dashboards, configurable KPIs, and real-time labor costing. Advanced analytics baked in.
  • Workday: Good for HCM analytics, but weak on labor ops like time-to-fill shifts, absentee trends, or compliance deviations.
  Winner: Infor, if you want decision-ready data at the operations level.

6.  Integration with Payroll

• • Infor: Plays nicely with any payroll vendor (Oracle, ADP, UKG, SAP, etc.), using standard APIs and flat-file interfaces.
  • Workday: Pushes hard for its own payroll or partner plug-ins. Integration with external payroll systems is a common pain point.
  
  Winner: Infor, for being system-agnostic and integration-friendly.

Where Workday Might Compete:

• If you're already all-in on Workday HCM and just need basic time tracking for salaried employees, it's convenient.
• Workday has a more polished UI/UX out of the box though Infor is catching up with its refreshed CloudSuite UX.
• For orgs without complex scheduling needs, Workday is "good enough", but it’s not purpose-built.

Conclusion

If your workforce is hourly, unionized, shift-based, field-oriented, or governed by compliance rules; Infor Workforce Management is the stronger, more purpose-built flexible solution. While Workday Time and Attendance integrates well within Workday’s broader suite, it lacks the depth, flexibility, and compliance rigor needed by shift-heavy, unionized, or regulated environments. 

Our recommendation is to only choose Workday if your organization is HCM-driven, white-collar focused, and doesn’t need granular time tracking. Consider these two key points:

• If you're already all-in on Workday HCM and just need basic time tracking for salaried employees, it's convenient.
• For orgs without complex scheduling needs, Workday is "good enough" but it’s not purpose-built.

Look at Infor if your workforce drives your bottom line, is one of your biggest expenses, and you can’t afford errors, inefficiency, or non-compliance. Don't believe me? Just Google labor compliance lawsuits. There are hundreds of multi-million dollar lawsuits for not adhering to labor laws for hourly workers.

End of the day, Workday time tracking seems more like a bolt on to your existing Workday HCM footprint than an enterprise Workforce Management solution!