DST and Your Employee Time Clock Software

Don't forget that Daylight Saving Time (DST) begins this weekend. As long as your computer handles the time change automatically, Virtual TimeClock will always record the correct time for you.

The Basic and Pro Editions pull the time stamp directly from the computer operating system. If you're looking for ideas to better secure your computer against time manipulation, then check out this article on keeping your employee time clock software secure. The Network Edition uses the time from the time clock server computer to record the time clock punches for all of the client time clocks. This makes it impossible to manipulate the time on the local computer to affect the timecard records of your time clock software.

If you have worker shifts that cross the time change threshold (DST officially begins at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 13, 2011), then you may need to manually adjust their end time to account for the extra hour lost because we "spring forward" for DST. For example, an overnight shift from 8:00 PM to 4:00 AM will actually show the employee clocking out at 5:00 AM if you require them to finish their 8 hour shift. This would show 9 hours worked on their timecard instead of the 8 hours they actually worked. You'll need to modify the entry stop time back to 4:00 AM to reflect the appropriate 8 hours worked. However, if you require them to clock out at their actual shift end time of 4:00 AM, their timecard would show 8 hours worked even though they only worked 7 hours. You'll need to modify the entry stop time back to 3:00 AM to reflect the appropriate 7 hours worked. Some companies may just pay employees for an extra hour, so no adjustments are necessary.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software