Attendance
How daily attendance records work, how to clock in and out, what the statuses mean, and how exceptions surface for review.
Go to App → Attendance to see daily records. Each row is one employee on one date: when they clocked in and out, how many minutes were worked, payable, overtime, late, or early-leave, and what the current payroll status is.
Clocking in and out
Employees can clock themselves in and out directly in the app. Biometric terminals and mobile/GPS check-ins also create punches — they all arrive in the same place.
Biometric and mobile punches
Punches from a ZKTeco terminal or a geofenced mobile check-in follow the same flow. See Biometric devices & attendance sync for how those devices feed into this view.
Breaks (unpaid)
Once you're clocked in, you can record breaks directly from the clock panel on the Attendance page. Breaks are self-service — any employee records their own.
Breaks are unpaid
Completed breaks are deducted from your worked time. The deduction reduces overtime first — once your worked time drops below the standard day, further break time reduces paid minutes. Your daily record's payable minutes always reflect the break deduction.
A few details to keep in mind:
- Checking out while on break automatically ends the open break — you never have to remember to close it first.
- Only completed breaks are deducted. A break that's still open (started but not ended) isn't subtracted until it closes (or check-out closes it for you).
- The server is the source of truth. Break times are recorded server-side and the daily record's payable minutes are recalculated from them.
Reading a record
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Date | The calendar date of the record. |
| Day type | How the date is classified: weekday, saturday, sunday, or holiday. This drives the overtime multiplier. |
| Status | Whether attendance requirements were met for the day. |
| Payroll status | Whether this record has been validated and is safe for payroll. |
| Clock in / Clock out | First in and last out punches for the day. |
| Worked minutes | Total time between first punch in and last punch out, less any auto-deducted break. |
| Payable minutes | The minutes that count toward pay, after grace periods, caps, and break deductions are applied. |
| Overtime minutes | Minutes beyond the daily or weekly overtime threshold. |
| Late minutes | Minutes after the grace window before the scheduled start. |
| Early-leave minutes | Minutes the employee left before the scheduled end (within the grace window). |
| Notes | Any HR or manager note attached to the record. |
Day types
The day type determines which overtime multiplier applies.
| Day type | When it applies |
|---|---|
| Weekday | A normal configured working day. |
| Saturday | A Saturday, which may carry a different overtime rate. |
| Sunday | A Sunday, typically with a higher premium. |
| Holiday | A date on the public-holiday calendar — takes precedence over the weekday bucket. |
The working week is tenant-configurable. If your organisation has a Sunday-Thursday week, Saturday and Sunday are assigned to the correct buckets for your calendar.
Record status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| present | The employee was present and met the minimum required minutes. |
| half_day | The employee worked, but only met the threshold for a half day. |
| absent | No valid punches for the day; or the employee was expected but didn't attend. |
| holiday | The date falls on a public holiday. Attendance rules may still apply if the employee worked. |
| conflict | Two or more punch pairs overlap or can't be resolved cleanly. Needs HR review. |
Payroll status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pending | The record exists but hasn't been validated yet. It won't feed payroll until it's approved. |
| approved | HR or payroll has reviewed and approved the record. It's ready to be picked up by a payroll run. |
| payroll_locked | The record was included in a confirmed payroll run. It's immutable: no further edits are possible until the run is reversed. |
Locked records
A record with status payroll_locked can't be edited. If there's an error, the payroll run must be reversed by payroll admin before any correction can be made to the attendance record.
Lens filters
Use the filters at the top of the Attendance list to narrow to records that need attention.
| Lens | What it shows |
|---|---|
| All | Every record in your scope (all employees for HR/managers; your own for employees). |
| Today | Records for the current date only. |
| Pending validation | Records with payroll status pending — awaiting HR or payroll review. |
| Pending OT | Records with unreviewed overtime minutes. |
| Payroll approved | Records confirmed ready for payroll. |
| Exceptions | Records flagged for review: conflicts, unmatched punches, or anomalies the system couldn't resolve. |
Role notes
You see only your own records. You can clock in and out. You can't edit the validated or locked rows.
You see records for your direct reports. You can review records and escalate exceptions to HR but can't approve records for payroll — that's HR or payroll admin.
You see all records in the organisation. You can approve records (moving them from pending to approved), add notes, and triage exceptions. Only a payroll admin can unlock a payroll_locked record (by reversing the run).
Exceptions and biometric mismatches
An exception appears when the system can't resolve a punch cleanly. Common causes:
- A biometric punch arrived with a device user-id that isn't mapped to any employee.
- Two punch pairs overlap on the same day.
- Only a clock-in punch was received with no corresponding clock-out.
Unmatched punches (a device user-id with no employee mapping) go to Attendance → Biometrics & Time Clocks → Exceptions and Punch review for HR to link. Once linked, the punch reprocesses and updates the attendance record automatically.
See Biometric devices & attendance sync for the full punch-review workflow.
How rosters connect
Your roster tells the system which shift you're assigned to on each date. The shift defines your scheduled start, end, and minimum minutes; shift rules define overtime thresholds and grace periods. Without a roster assignment, the system falls back to your organisation's default schedule settings.
See Rosters for how roster assignments are managed.
What to check
- Record is missing — Check that a punch was registered. Biometric punches may be in the raw staging queue if the device had a connectivity gap; they process once the queue catches up.
- Minutes look wrong — Compare the clock-in and clock-out times to your shift schedule. Grace minutes, auto break deductions, and daily caps all affect payable minutes. Ask HR to review the shift rules if the numbers are consistently off.
- Overtime isn't showing — Overtime triggers when worked minutes exceed your shift's daily or weekly threshold. If the threshold isn't configured for your shift, no overtime is classified. Raise it with HR.
- Record is locked — The payroll run for that period has been confirmed. HR or payroll admin must reverse the run before the record can be edited.
Troubleshooting
My hours look wrong
Check the clock-in and clock-out times on the record. If the times are right but the worked or payable minutes don't match, the discrepancy is likely a grace period deduction, an auto break deduction, or a daily paid-minutes cap set in your shift rule. Contact HR to review which shift rule is applied to your record.
My record shows "conflict"
A conflict means the system received overlapping or inconsistent punches and can't determine the correct worked period. This can happen if a biometric terminal re-sends old punches, or if there are two clock-in events with no clock-out between them. HR or payroll admin can review the raw punches under Exceptions and correct the record.
My request is stuck at "pending"
HR or a payroll admin needs to approve the record. Check with your HR team if a record is pending for an extended period.
I can't clock in or out
If the button isn't available, you may already have an open punch (clocked in with no clock-out) or a closed one for the day. Check your record for today and contact HR if the status looks incorrect.
My break wasn't deducted
Only completed breaks are deducted. If you started a break but never ended it, it stays open and isn't subtracted — though checking out automatically closes any open break. Check your record for today: if a break is still open, end it (or clock out) and the payable minutes will recalculate.