Workforce management · Clock-in
Employee clock-in system: GPS, QR and a shared tablet
One company can have desk staff, field crews and staff without a phone. There are three ways in for the three of them, and all land on one screen: who is working, who is on a break, who is in the field — without a phone call.
The problem: not the record, but whether it is true
Taking a clock-in is easy; the hard part is being sure the record really belongs to that person and that place. Someone else signs the paper sheet, a card gets lent, a “I’m here” text message cannot be verified.
In this system each method carries its own check: phone clock-in by location, QR clock-in by the location the code is tied to, the shared tablet by a personal PIN — and, if the company wishes, a photo on all three. An unverifiable clock-in is not silently accepted; by company rule it is blocked or flagged.
Three ways in — who each one suits
Phone with location (GPS)
Field crews, construction sites, staff working across several branches. Clock-ins outside the defined area are flagged; clock-ins from a customer address by staff with field permission are kept separately.
QR code
Single-entrance workplaces, shops, workshops. The code is tied to where it is posted; the scanner’s location must be within the code’s radius.
Shared tablet (kiosk)
Staff who have no phone or do not want to use their own. They pick their name and enter a personal PIN; a photo is optional.
What stops clocking in for someone else?
Each safeguard is a company setting; staff know which ones are on.
- Location check — a phone clock-in is verified within the defined work area; with a weak signal the accuracy margin is taken into account, so someone at work is not wrongly rejected.
- Location-bound QR — scanning a photo of the code from home does not count as a clock-in.
- Photo (selfie) — if the company turns it on, it is requested at GPS clock-in and on the shared tablet. No face recognition is done; the photo is simply attached to the record.
- Personal PIN — every employee has their own PIN on the shared tablet.
- One open record — staff with an open record cannot clock in again; a second clock-in on the same day depends on the company setting and is checked on the server.
- Trail — attendance a manager records on someone’s behalf, and every correction, is stored with who and when.
What does the live staff board show?
The live board in the admin panel counts staff in five states: working · on a break · in the field · clocked out · not clocked in. A map and the staff list sit side by side; late arrivals are marked separately.
Location is collected only while a shift is open and the app is open; location received outside working time is not stored. The retention period is a company setting, and location and photo records are destroyed when it expires. We set these limits as design rules, not as selling points — details are in our KVKK guide.
Setting it up on day one
Enter locations
Define the branch or site name, its location and radius; on site, “use my current location” is enough.
Print the QR codes
Each location has its own code, tied to that place; an A5 print is enough.
Link the shared tablet
The tablet is linked with a one-time activation code; staff without a phone are given a PIN.
Invite staff
The employee panel opens in the browser and is added to the home screen with one tap (PWA); no app store needed.
Questions about clock-in
Is the employee’s location tracked all the time for GPS clock-in?
No. Location is collected only while a shift is open and the app is open; location received outside working time is not stored. Location taken during a shift is used on the manager’s live map and — if the company turns it on — in an alert sent after a long period outside the work area; that alert tells the manager the duration only, not the location.
What if someone photographs the QR code and scans it from home?
No clock-in is recorded. The QR code is tied to where it is posted; if the scanning phone is not within the code’s radius, the system treats it as outside the area. You do not need to reprint the code; if the location moves, you only update its position.
How does someone starting work at a customer’s address clock in?
By phone with location. For staff with field permission, a clock-in outside the defined area is not rejected; it is kept separately as a field clock-in and shown on the map.
Is face recognition used at clock-in?
No. If the company wishes, a photo is requested and attached to the record, but no face recognition or other biometric matching is done. KVKK principle decision 2026/921 held that processing biometric data for working-time tracking is unlawful even with explicit consent.
Is a clock-in lost if there is no internet on site?
No. The clock-in is stored on the phone with the time it was tapped and sent when the connection returns; the manager sees the record as “taken offline”. The timesheet uses the moment of the tap, not the moment of sending.
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