Did You Remember to Clock Out?

There's definitely a learning curve when starting to use new employee time clock software. It's to be expected when changing time and attendance systems, especially when employees have just been recording their time on a paper timesheet with no accountability. The transition is a little easier when coming from a mechanical punch clock because the employees are already used to going to a central location to clock in and out. They know the routine. A common question we get from new users is "How do I make my employees remember to clock out?" The best reminder will be repetition and reinforcement, but there are some tools built into Virtual TimeClock that may help during the transition period.

We introduced a new automatic clock out feature as part of the new shift restrictions to help control employee overtime in Virtual TimeClock '11. Setting an auto clock out with a reasonable grace period should take care of those forgotten clock outs by distracted workers at the end of a busy day. Here's how it works. Let's say you have a shift that ends at 5:00 PM, and you have an auto clock out set with a 5 minute grace period. As long as the employee clocks out before 5:05 PM, your employee time clock software will record the actual stop time. However, if the employee forgets to clock out, then they'll automatically be clocked out when the grace period is over, but the time clock will record their stop time as their shift end time, which would be 5:00 PM. In other words, they've got 5 minutes past their shift to clock out or the time clock software will do it for them. This can help greatly with missed punches, especially as employees are getting used to the new time clock program.

You can certainly remove the restriction if you want to after your employees have gotten the hang of the new employee time clock software and are consistently remembering to clock out on their own.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software