Don’t worry, be appy!

Tracking employee time and attendance has never been easier

First, we had bulky, static clocking machines with traditional punch cards. Then came RFID swipe cards and fobs, with considerably smaller, wall-mounted terminals and often more than one per premises, to cover various points of entry. Fast forward a few years, and the biometric revolution meant employees could use either their fingerprints or facial recognition to manage their time and attendance. Throughout all this time, a physical clocking-in machine of some sort has been necessary.

Until now.

The way in which we work has undergone monumental shifts in recent years. Not so long ago, terms such as hybrid working or remote staff would have been met with inquisitively raised eyebrows, whereas now they are fully normalised into our way of life. This, of course, created a need for a clocking-in system better adapted to this modern workforce management model.

Enter the clocking app.

Clocking in via smartphone app offers both employers and employees maximum flexibility when it comes to comfortable and accurate time tracking. Not only does it guarantee that every employee has her/his very own clocking-in and out method, it also means that you as an employer have the peace of mind offered by the knowledge that you can send your employees wherever you need them to be, without detriment to your attendance and absence management data. This is especially useful to workers in the cleaning and construction industry, who often find themselves working across multiples sites.

The uAttend clocking app is a quick, accurate, and user-friendly way to offer your employees self-service options, giving them the ability to: select a department (or site) to clock in to; request time off; check their personal timecard; clock for breaks and meals and, if needed, send their line manager a note.

The administrator app allows selected members of staff access to an overview of timesheets for entire departments, as well as enabling changes to be made including clocking in staff members on their behalf, etc.

But how can you be sure your employees are where they’re meant to be when they clock in? Geolocation. This means that you can see where your staff member is when they clock in. It doesn’t, of course, allow you to track their whereabouts throughout the duration of their shift – that’s all kinds of wrong (not to mention illegal).

You can choose from Global location, or a Fixed UK location(s), which gives you the option of ringfencing. In other words, you can set up a radius around the site, say half a mile, beyond which point your employees cannot clock in. Super useful to rule out anyone clocking in or out from the pub, not suitable, however, for remote workers. Like everything else with workforce management software solutions such as uAttend, you can adjust it to suit your needs.

The app is just another useful tool in the time and attendance toolbox. Terminals are still hugely popular and very efficient. It all depends on your needs, and those of your workforce.

Every uAttend account includes access to our uAttend App at no extra charge, so why not take it for a spin and see how you like it? Call us for a demo, and we can show you all the ways in which uAttend by Chronologic can make your work life easier and more efficient.