Decide whether you need payroll or workforce management first
Some of these tools are payroll systems that happen to handle shift differentials (Paycor, Paylocity, Paycom, Greenshades, Netchex, APS Payroll). Others are workforce management or HCM platforms where payroll is one module among scheduling, time clocks and labor analytics (UKG, Dayforce, WorkForce Software, Infor Workforce Management, isolved). If your plant already runs a separate scheduling or MES system and just needs payroll to run correctly on complex pay rules, the narrower payroll tools are less to implement. If you're replacing paper timesheets and a spreadsheet payroll process at once, the broader platforms save you integrating two systems later, at the cost of a longer rollout.
Match the vendor's target size to your headcount, where it's published
Four vendors here explicitly target enterprise accounts: UKG, Dayforce, WorkForce Software and Infor Workforce Management. Ten target mid-size employers: Paycor, Paylocity, Paycom, Greenshades, isolved, TCP Software, Workforce.com, Netchex, APS Payroll and Synerion. ADP Workforce Now doesn't publish a target size in this listing set, so don't assume it fits either bracket without asking. A 40-person plant evaluating an enterprise-targeted platform should expect a sales process and implementation timeline built for a bigger buyer.
Check whether physical time clocks are part of the deal
Most of these are software-only on the time-tracking side. TCP Software is the one listing here that names physical clocks explicitly. If your floor still uses badge clocks or you want to keep them, that's a shortlist filter, not an afterthought: retrofitting clock hardware into a system that assumes phone or kiosk clock-in is an added line item nobody quotes up front.
TODO(editor): verify which of the 15 vendors actually integrate with badge/clock hardware beyond TCP Software's explicit mention, and which assume mobile or kiosk clock-in only.
Ask what happens to your existing labor rules during implementation
Shift differentials, piece-rate pay and multi-state or multi-location tax rules show up across multiple listings (ADP Workforce Now, Paycor, Paylocity, Greenshades, APS Payroll). None of these listings publish what it costs to configure those rules, only that the software supports them. Get an implementation quote, not just a subscription quote, before you compare two vendors on sticker price. All 15 here are quote-only, so you're negotiating from day one regardless of which you pick.
TODO(editor): confirm whether any of the 15 vendors publish typical implementation timelines or fees separate from the software subscription; none of the listings above state this.
Decide who administers the system day to day
A union shop with complex shift-differential math needs an HR or payroll admin who can maintain rule tables without vendor support tickets for every change. Platforms built around labor-rule complexity (WorkForce Software, Infor Workforce Management) assume that kind of admin exists. Smaller plants without a dedicated payroll administrator should weight ease of self-service configuration over rule depth, since nobody's using the advanced features if nobody's trained to touch them.
TODO(editor): verify which vendors offer self-service rule configuration versus requiring vendor professional services for changes to shift-differential or piece-rate tables.
Confirm deployment fits your IT constraints
Fourteen of the fifteen vendors here are cloud-only. Synerion is the single hybrid deployment in this set. If your plant has connectivity or data-residency requirements that rule out pure cloud, that narrows the field to one vendor immediately, worth confirming directly before you invest time in a demo.
