Clocking In And Out 101: The Ultimate Guide For Employers

Welcome to our ultimate guide to clocking in and out for employers! Whether you’re looking for a way to build your first system for tracking employee hours or looking to upgrade from a system that’s no longer working for you, you’re in the right place.

This guide is a collection of articles that walk you through everything you need to know to create the perfect time-tracking system for your business’s needs and goals.

In the article you’re currently viewing, you’ll find the basic information you need to understand clocking in and out systems generally. When you’re finished reading it and are ready to learn more, use the menu on the left (desktop) or bottom (tablet/mobile) to navigate to more detailed articles on the topics you’re interested in.

Without further ado, let’s jump into the basics of clocking in and out.

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.

What are the different types of time clock apps?

There are hundreds of different time clock apps on the market that can be used to create a system for employees to clock in and out, but not all of the options are right for every employer.

The right app for your team will have features catered to 1) how your employees work, 2) the systems you want to streamline and automate, and 3) the data you care most about collecting.

Here are the main types of time clock apps.

Location-tracking time clock apps

Time clock apps with location-tracking features are great for businesses with traveling employees and/or field workers who may or may not come into the office at the beginning and end of their shifts. Employees can use an app on their mobile phones to clock in and out of work from anywhere.

Additionally, location-tracking apps come with features like GPS tracking and geofencing that let you ensure employees are at the right job sites when they clock in and out. Some also include real-time GPS tracking that will track employees’ locations over the entire day and show you all employees’ locations at any time on a map.

Productivity-tracking time clock apps

Time clock apps with productivity-tracking features are designed for businesses with employees who do most or all of their work on computers.

In addition to tracking time, these apps have features that monitor what employees are doing on their computers over the course of a shift so you can identify who’s spending time on non-work activities.

Some of the features included in productivity-tracking apps include:

• Screenshots: Capture pictures of employees’ computer screens at random intervals.
• App and website tracking: See how much time employees spend on specific work- or non-work-related websites and apps.
• Idle detection: Track how much time employees spend logging time but not moving their mouse or using their keyboard to do any work.

Biometric time clock apps

Biometric time clock apps come with features like facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, and/or voice recognition that prevent employees from either clocking in and out or accessing a work area when the system can’t validate their identities.

There are three main use cases for biometric time clock apps:

• When buddy punching is a major problem: Biometric identification ensures that employees can never clock in and out for one another.
• When you want to speed up clocking in and out at a kiosk: Employees having to enter usernames and passwords at a kiosk can create long lines for clocking in and out. Using biometrics speeds up this process significantly.
• When you want to combine time tracking and work area security: Some physical time clocks can function as a combined time tracking and employee access system where you validate employees’ identities to both clock them in/out and give them access to a building or work area.

Industry-specific time clock apps

Some time clocks are designed to only be used by companies in specific industries. They have features that wouldn’t be useful to companies in other industries, such as DCAA compliance for government contractors, equipment tracking for construction companies, or LEDES invoice formats for lawyers.

If time tracking is more complex in your industry and you’re finding that the more general time clock apps are missing the features you need, looking for an option that caters solely to your industry may solve the problems you’re running into.

Time, task, and project tracking apps

Some apps function as a combined time clock and project management system. In addition to tracking employees’ hours overall, these apps can track hours spent on specific tasks or projects — and on billable and non-billable activities.

These apps may integrate with popular project management systems, or they may bring project management and time-tracking into one consolidated system, offering features like:

• Project planning, budgeting, and tracking
• Team collaboration features like commenting and assigning
• Gantt charts, Kanban boards, to-do lists, etc.

Additionally, many of these apps offer invoicing services, allowing you to create client invoices quickly and easily using your time-tracking data.

Time tracking and payroll software

All time clock apps will let you download reports that you can send to an existing payroll provider. Most also offer integrations with existing payroll providers where you can connect the two systems to pass timesheet reports to payroll either automatically or manually.

However, some time clocks offer both time tracking and payroll services, eliminating the need to pass data between two systems. Instead, you track employee hours and run payroll using the same application, saving you the extra step of transferring time data to your payroll provider.

HR systems with time tracking

For businesses looking to run all of their HR functions through the same system, you may want to look for a human capital management (HCM) system — also commonly referred to as human resources information system (HRIS) or human resources management system (HRMS).

These systems bring all HR functions under one roof. In addition to time tracking, you’ll get access to features that help you hire and onboard new employees, run payroll, document policies and procedures, offboard employees, manage performance reviews, run employee surveys, manage benefits, and more.

These systems are generally significantly more expensive than time clock software but can be worth the added expense if it helps you consolidate multiple software subscriptions into one.

Time tracking and team communication apps

While these are the least common time clock apps on the market, there are a few systems that combine time tracking and team communication features.

This allows you to use the system to track employees’ hours, communicate with your team, and enable communication between your team members (think time tracking plus Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, WhatsApp, or Discord).

In addition to time-tracking, most time clock apps come with complementary features that help teams consolidate multiple processes into one system, such as employee scheduling, PTO tracking and accruals, and attendance tracking.

How to make clocking in and out easy for your employees

When employees diligently clock in and out in the way that you expect them to, it makes your life easier. You won’t have to constantly edit timecards to fix mistakes, you don’t have to worry that employees are getting paid for more hours than they worked, and you can rest assured that your payroll and client invoices are accurate.

To encourage employee diligence in clocking in and out, follow these tips.

Create a clear timekeeping policy

Whether it’s part of your employee handbook or a separate document, you should have a timekeeping policy that’s read and signed by all employees. 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.

You can learn more about creating a timekeeping policy — plus see some real examples and download a free template — in our chapter on “How to Create a Clocking In and Out Policy.”

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.

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.

Make sure employees understand why proper time tracking is important

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.

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This article provided a brief overview of clocking in and out, but it’s just the introductory chapter in an entire guide to clocking in and out for employers.

Use the links on the left (desktop) or below (tablet/mobile) to navigate to other chapters and continue learning everything you need to know to set up an effective time-tracking system for your business.