How to Make Sure Your Employees Don’t Forget to Clock In and Out

When employees are lax about clocking in or out, it can make it difficult to accurately calculate their pay. And while it may be tempting to simply dock an employee for work time that they forgot to log, this isn’t an option.

According to FLSA laws, employers must compensate employees for the hours that they worked regardless of whether they clocked in or out. The responsibility of maintaining accurate timesheets for staff members ultimately falls on employers.

However, it is possible to get your employees to feel some responsibility for maintaining accurate records of the times when they work. In this post, we’re sharing our best tips on making sure your employees don’t forget to clock in and out via processes, reminders, carrots, and — in extreme cases — sticks.

What does clocking in and out mean?

Clocking in and out is the act of recording one’s start and stop times for work. Clocking in refers to the action of recording the specific time when an employee began working, and clocking out refers to the action of recording the specific time when an employee stopped working.

Other common ways people refer to clocking in and out are “punching in and out,” “signing in and out,” “swiping in and out,” and “checking in and out.”

Employees may clock in and out multiple times over the course of a day. In addition to clocking in at the beginning of the day and out at the end, they may clock out for a break and clock back in when the break is over, or they may clock into and out of different client projects they’re working on over the course of a day.

Why is clocking in and out important?

Clock-in and out data is used to calculate the total number of hours an employee worked during a specific time period. This is critical for meeting FLSA requirements, paying employees properly for the hours they worked, identifying overtime hours, and for some businesses, calculating accrued paid time off.

How do employees clock in and out of work?

The way employees clock in and out varies based on the system an employer uses to track employees’ hours:

• For employers using paper timesheets, employees clock in and out either by writing down their start and stop times on a sheet of paper or inserting a timecard into a physical punch clock that automatically prints the current time onto the timecard.
• For employers using physical time clocks, employees clock in and out using a central time clock kiosk that is shared among all staff. These systems generally store employees’ timesheets digitally and let employers access timesheet reports online.
• For employers using time clock apps, employees can clock in and out using a variety of devices: a time clock kiosk, a computer, or a mobile phone. These apps store timecards digitally, and all data can be accessed online through an administrator portal.

You can learn more about the different types of systems used by employers for tracking employees’ hours — and determine which is best for your business — in our post on “How to Create an Employee Clock-In Clock-Out System.“

Why employees forgetting to clock in and out is a problem

An employee who neglects to clock out can accrue dozens of hours of unearned pay and/or overtime. And while it might seem like you’d definitely notice someone who was clocked in for multiple days at a time, sometimes these mistakes can slip through the cracks.

Here’s a look at what happens when an hourly employee forgets to clock in or out.

• Guessing games begin: When an employee forgets to clock in or out, the difficult task of determining how many hours they worked that pay period begins. You’ll likely have to take your employee’s word for it when they tell you what time they arrived at or left work.
• Payroll could be inaccurate: Since determining the accurate times is often a matter of guesswork, this could result in an employee’s pay being inaccurate as well. Work hours could be inflated or even deflated, which can create FLSA compliance problems.
• Time is wasted: Trying to determine what time your employee actually clocked in/out costs time. Ensuring accuracy, checking for discrepancies, reviewing security footage to verify start and end times — these tasks add up. 
• Mistakes compound: If your employees get away with being lax about clocking in and out, they’ll gradually come to take your time tracking policies less seriously — and that attitude might spread among your team members.

Common reasons why employees forget to clock in and out

Before we jump in to our tips for helping employees remember to clock in and out, it’s helpful to understand the most common reasons why employees forget to punch.

• Distractions at the start or end of shifts: Employees may get caught up in conversations, tasks, or urgent work responsibilities and forget to punch in/out.
• Rushing: Employees who are running late or eager to leave may skip clocking in/out.
• Unclear policies: If your procedures for clocking in and out are not clearly communicated, employees may be unsure when and how to log their time. 
• Forgotten devices: For field employees using a mobile time clock app, forgetting their phone at home will prevent them from clocking in and out.
• Emergencies: Employees who have to leave unexpectedly due to an emergency or to pick up a sick kid may forget to clock out because they had other things on their minds.
• Routine interruptions: Changes in an employee’s usual schedule or work location can disrupt the habit of clocking in and out.
• Fatigue or stress: Busy or overwhelmed employees may overlook this step, especially during high-pressure periods.
• Time theft: Forgetting to clock in and out may also be an attempt to get paid for hours and minutes when the employee wasn’t actually at work.

Taking the time to identify the reasons why your employees forget can be helpful in determining which of the tips below will make the biggest difference in inspiring diligent timekeeping behaviors.

11 tips to make sure employees don’t forget to clock in and out

If you want to inspire diligent time tracking, implement one or more of the tips below to significantly minimize the likelihood of your employees forgetting to clock in and out.

1. Have a written policy

Whether it’s part of your employee handbook or a separate document, you should have a clocking in and out policy. This document should describe:

• The system that your company uses to track employees’ hours.
• How employees can access that system.
• Your expectations for clocking in and out (e.g., what breaks should employees clock out for, what employees should do if they need to work longer than they’re scheduled, etc.).
• How timekeeping rules are enforced.
• How timesheets are submitted and approved.
• Who employees should contact if they have questions or run into issues.

A policy can also help you protect yourself in cases of noncompliance since you’ll be able to follow a written procedure with escalating consequences that your team is aware of thanks to their employment contract.

Ensure that all of your employees have received, read, and signed this policy.

2. Choose a method that doesn’t interrupt their workflows

If your employees work in the field, having them come to the office every morning to clock in and return at the end of the day to clock out is a huge waste of time and money. You’re likely better off looking for a mobile time clock app that allows employees to clock in and out from wherever their work starts and stops for the day.

If your employees all work on computers, having a time clock they access via a URL is ideal because it allows them to clock in when they sit down at their computers and clock out when they get up.

And if your employees all work in the same location and don’t work on computers, using a time clock kiosk is ideal.

Choosing a time clock system that works with what your employees are already doing — rather than creating a separate action they need to take — will encourage them to clock in and out properly.

3. Make sure clocking in and out is simple

Ideally, clocking in and out should be as quick and straightforward as possible. Look for systems that simplify the process. Simplicity often looks like this:

• Offering multiple methods for logging in (e.g., usernames and passwords, PINs, QR codes, facial recognition, text-to-punch, single sign-on, etc.).
• Making the desired action obvious (e.g., a big “clock in” or “clock out” button).
• Minimizing the display of other actions that might be distracting.
• Choosing an app that’s simple to use for non-tech-savvy employees.
• Making sure there’s a way for employees to get help when they need it.

4. Emphasize the importance of clocking in/out

While it may seem obvious to you why proper time-tracking is important, employees who have never had a job before may not understand the benefits unless you explain them.

If you’re not certain your employees know why they need to clock in and out, make sure they understand that it’s tied to them being paid properly to inspire them to follow the process.

If you help them tie the action of clocking in and out to something they care deeply about — their pay — they’ll be much more likely to find their own inspiration to follow the rules.

5. Put up “remember to clock in and out” signs

If your employees all work on-site, you can hang up a “remember to clock in and out” sign in a locker room or somewhere else employees always go before starting their work.

You can make something yourself to print out and hang around the office, or you can buy pre-made signs to hang on the wall, stick to laptops, or sit on desks on sites like Etsy, Office Sign Company, Compliance Signs, and Redbubble.

6. Set up clocking in and out notifications

If you’re using a time clock app that has employee scheduling, you or your employees can set up clock-in and clock-out reminders for the beginning and end of shifts. These can come as email on in-app notifications and can remind employees who got distracted to go back and clock in/out if they forgot to.

7. Set up location-based notifications

Some time clock apps with GPS tracking will remind employees to clock in when they arrive at a specific location — and to clock out when they leave that location. This can be great when your employees work off-site and wouldn’t be in the office to see a “remember to punch” sign.

However, keep in mind that this functionality requires the app to monitor employees’ locations 24/7, which is illegal in some states. Before implementing this type of tracking, it’s important to consult with an employment attorney to fully understand what’s allowed in the locations where your employees work.

8. Clock employees in and out automatically

Some time clock apps have features that will let you clock employees in and out automatically at the beginning and end of their shifts. This can be a simple solution if you want to just pay employees for all of the time they’re scheduled to work — it’s a bit like paying hourly employees a salary for hours scheduled.

However, this feature does have some disadvantages. One, if you automatically clock employees in and out, it won’t account for times when they weren’t actually working because they were late for work or left early.

Second, if you automatically clock employees out and they continue working, you could be in violation of FLSA laws. So if you’re going to implement automatic clocking out, you need to be confident that employees understand you’re doing it and know not to work one minute longer than they’re scheduled to work.

9. Use productivity tracking software

Some time clock apps have productivity tracking features that give you and/or your employees a timeline of all activities done on a computer while clocked in. This doesn’t help if an employee forgets to clock in, but it can help you and the employee determine when they stopped working if they forgot to clock out.

10. Offer incentives

Sometimes, your team just needs a little bit of incentive. Offering a reward to staff members who remember to consistently clock in and out can encourage and motivate your team to make more of an effort.

You could enter everyone who adhered to the process into a raffle for a nice prize at the end of every quarter or hand out small coffee gift cards at the end of every month to everyone who didn’t have any timesheet mistakes.

11. Consider disciplinary actions

Disciplinary action is something we consider to be a last resort, but if you’re having trouble getting your team to take accounting for their work hours seriously, you might have to escalate.

Consider having a verbal warning, followed by a written warning, then suspension, and — in extreme cases — termination.

Your clocking in and out policy helps when it comes to taking disciplinary actions because it should detail exactly what will happen when employees fail to follow the policy.

Employee forgetfulness vs. time theft

Most of time time, employees neglecting to clock in and out is just forgetfulness. They were busy thinking about what they needed to do for work or what they were going to do after work, and clocking in/out just slipped their minds.

However, “forgetting” to clock in/out can also be a deliberate action to cover up an employee arriving to work late, leaving early, or taking a longer break than they’re allowed.

If you find that you have employees who forget to clock in/out more often than others, you might want to dig deeper into the problem to make sure their forgetfulness isn’t time theft in disguise.

Related reading:

• The Best Clock-In Clock-Out Apps for Small Businesses
• How to Create an Employee Clock-In Clock-Out System
• How to Create a Clocking In and Out Policy + Examples
• Sample Write-Up for Not Clocking In and Out [Free Templates]
• Free Clock In and Out Calculator