Time & Attendance App Overview

Time & Attendance

1. What it is

Time & Attendance is the system of record for actual hours worked. Employees clock in and out from the web, the mobile app, or a shared time-clock kiosk. Each punch captures the time, location, and — when you require it — a photo, GPS coordinates, IP address, or device identity. Managers see a live dashboard of who is on the clock, late, or absent, and review any flagged records before hours flow into timesheets.

• Enablement: Requires a license. An admin enables it from Admin → Apps Marketplace. It is not turned on automatically.
• What it is not: Time & Attendance records actual hours. The plan — who works where and when — lives in Shifts & Scheduling. Leave accruals and balances live in Leave Management. Payroll calculation and export from approved timesheets live in Timesheets and Payroll Connect. Those are separate apps that integrate with this one.

2. Standing it up

1. Enable the app — go to Admin → Apps Marketplace, find Time & Attendance, and enable it.
2. Set up locations — go to Admin → Locations. Each punch is associated with a location. At least one location must exist before employees can clock in. If you plan to use geofencing, configure the geofence radius on each location’s settings page.
3. Create break types — go to Admin → Break Types. Define the breaks your employees take — name, duration, paid or unpaid, and whether the break is required. Break types default to 30 minutes, paid, and required.
4. Configure attendance settings — go to Admin → Attendance Settings. Decide which verification methods to require (photo, location, device, IP), set the time-window buffers, and choose whether to require a scheduled shift for clock-in. All verification settings default to off, so the app works immediately — tighten them as you roll out.
5. Publish the app to employees — in the app’s marketplace entry, set visibility rules to control which groups of employees can access it, then publish. Until published, only admins can reach it.
6. Confirm it worked — after an employee clocks in, their record appears on the manager dashboard at Attendance Management → Dashboard. The employee sees their status on their own dashboard and attendance history page.

Silent dependency: If you turn on Require Shift Assignment for Clock-in (off by default) without the Shifts & Scheduling app licensed, no employee will be able to clock in — from the web, the kiosk, or the mobile app. Leave this off unless Shifts & Scheduling is active.

3. How it fits together

Attendance records — Every clock-in creates an attendance record. It tracks the clock-in time, clock-out time, break records, work mode (on-site, remote, or off-site), and any verification data (photo, GPS, IP, device fingerprint). Records start in Pending status and move to On time, Late, or Completed as the shift progresses. Each record also notes its punch source — web, kiosk, API, hardware time clock, CSV import, or missing-punch request — so you can tell how the punch arrived.

Flagged records and the review queue — When a punch trips a policy (suspicious IP, outside the time window, unrecognized device, location mismatch, or missing clock-out), the record is flagged for review. Managers resolve flagged records from the review queue with an outcome — approved, adjusted, excused, or rejected. The edit trail on every record shows who changed what and when.

Breaks — Break types are defined once by the admin (paid or unpaid, duration, required or optional). When an employee is clocked in, break records are created from the applicable break types. Employees start and end breaks manually; a break that is still running at clock-out is auto-completed.

Kiosks — A time-clock kiosk is a shared device (typically a tablet at a work site) where employees identify with an ID and PIN instead of logging in. Each kiosk is paired to a location. One active kiosk is allowed per location. Employees punch in or out at the kiosk; the kiosk records the punch against their attendance record. Kiosk passcodes are encrypted at rest, and the device enrollment uses signed cookies with a five-year expiry.

Missing-punch requests — When an employee forgot to punch, they submit a missing-punch request with the time they actually worked. The request creates a provisional attendance record that is held for manager review. Once approved, the hours count.

Absence reports — An employee (or manager) can report an absence against a shift. Absence reason codes — defined by the admin under Admin → Absence Reason Codes — classify the absence (paid/unpaid, requires documentation, counts as an occurrence, requires manager approval). A reported absence links to the attendance record for that shift.

Work modes — Each punch carries a work mode: On-site (the default), Remote, or Off-site. Remote and off-site options only appear if the admin enables them (see Settings). Remote and off-site punches still record GPS and IP for the audit trail, but they skip geofence checks and are excluded from “who is in the building” counts. The work mode appears on the attendance record and in reports.

Timesheet sync — Every clock-in, clock-out, and time adjustment automatically syncs into the corresponding timesheet entry in the Timesheets app. Attendance is the single writer; the timesheet is the downstream consumer. Managers approve timesheets, not individual punch records — but a flagged punch blocks clean timesheet approval until it is resolved.

Hardware time clocks — External clock devices (badge readers, biometric terminals) push punch data to Time & Attendance via an HMAC-verified webhook. The system resolves each punch to an employee, matches it to a shift, and creates the attendance record. These punches appear with a “time clock” source so you can distinguish them from web or kiosk punches.

4. Running it

Reviewing flagged records

1. Go to Attendance Management → Dashboard. Records needing review appear in the review queue.
2. Open a flagged record. The flags show what triggered review — suspicious IP, outside time window, unknown device, or missing clock-out.
3. Choose an outcome: approve, adjust the times, excuse the absence, or reject. Add notes if needed.
4. The employee is notified of the decision, and the timesheet entry updates to match.

Managing who is on the clock

Go to Attendance Management → Currently Clocked In to see a live roster of everyone on the clock, with their shift, location, and elapsed hours. The No-Shows view lists employees with a scheduled shift who have not clocked in.

Clocking someone in or out on their behalf

Managers can clock in or clock out an employee from Attendance Management. Select the employee, confirm the location, and submit. The punch is recorded with the manager as the acting user.

Setting up a kiosk

1. Enable Kiosk mode for this site in Admin → Attendance Settings (under Time Clock Kiosk).
2. Go to Time Clock Kiosks (linked from the same settings page) and create a kiosk session for a location. The system generates a pairing code.
3. On the shared tablet, navigate to the kiosk URL and enter the pairing code. The device is enrolled and the kiosk is live. Only one active kiosk is allowed per location.
4. To regenerate all pairing codes at once, use Bulk Update Pairing Codes.

Configuring notification rules

Go to Admin → Attendance Notifications → Settings. Create rules for events like missed clock-in, missed clock-out, late clock-in, consecutive late arrivals, suspicious activity, or location mismatch. Each rule sets a severity, delivery method (in-app, email, SMS, push, or Slack), and recipients (the employee, their manager, both, all admins, or specific users).

Importing and exporting attendance data

Go to Admin → Attendance Import/Export. Import attendance records from CSV or Excel (up to 5,000 rows, 10 MB). Schedule recurring SFTP imports or exports to move hours to your payroll vendor. Export on demand from Admin → Attendance Analytics.

Viewing analytics

Go to Admin → Attendance Analytics for aggregated charts and reports — hours by department, tardiness trends, absence patterns, and overtime warnings. Data can be exported to CSV.

5. Settings

All settings below are at Admin → Attendance Settings unless noted otherwise.

Setting	Default	What it changes
Enforce Time Window Restrictions	On	When on, employees can only clock in/out within the configured buffers around their shift times.
Early Clock-in Buffer	15 minutes	How far before a shift’s start an employee can clock in.
Late Clock-in Buffer	30 minutes	How far after a shift’s start the clock-in is still accepted (and flagged as late).
Late Clock-out Buffer	30 minutes	How far after a shift’s end clock-out is accepted before being flagged.
Require Shift Assignment for Clock-in	Off	When on, only employees with a scheduled shift can clock in. When off, the system creates an ad-hoc shift automatically.
Allow Remote (Work From Home) Clock-in	Off	Adds a “Working remotely” option that skips geofence checks but still records GPS/IP.
Allow Off-Site / Traveling Clock-in	Off	Adds an “Off-site / traveling” option with an optional note. Remote and off-site punches are excluded from “who is in the building” counts.
Require Clock-in Before Using the Intranet	Off	Gates intranet access until the employee clocks in. Two modes: Block (redirect) or Banner (persistent reminder). Admins and employees on approved leave are always exempt.
Enable Automatic Clock-Out	On	Automatically clocks out employees who exceed the configured thresholds. All auto clock-outs are flagged for manager review.
Maximum Hours Before Auto Clock-Out	12 hours	Absolute cap — clock out after this many hours regardless of shift schedule.
Minutes After Shift End	30 minutes	For scheduled shifts, auto clock-out this many minutes past the shift end time.
Send Clock-Out Reminders	On	Sends a notification before shift end so employees remember to clock out. Works independently of automatic clock-out.
Clock-Out Reminder Lead Time	5 minutes	How far before shift end the reminder is sent.
Enforce IP Validation	Off	Validates punch IP addresses against approved ranges. Three modes: Passive (monitor only), Warning (flag for review), or Strict (block unapproved IPs). Approved IP ranges are managed per location.
Require Photo Verification	Off	Asks employees to take a photo at clock-in/out. Employees who cannot use the camera can continue without one — those punches are flagged for manager review rather than blocked.
Require Location Verification	Off	Master switch for GPS verification. Each location must also have geofencing enabled in its own settings for enforcement to take effect.
Require Device Verification	Off	Only trusted (previously enrolled) devices can be used for punching.

Kiosk settings (same page, under Time Clock Kiosk):

Setting	Default	What it changes
Kiosk mode for this site	Off	When on, employees see their kiosk ID and PIN card instead of the personal clock-in widget. This does not create the kiosk itself — kiosks are created under Time Clock Kiosks.
Employee Identifier	Mango ID	What employees enter at the kiosk to identify themselves: Mango ID or External Employee ID.
Default PIN	None (employee must set a personal PIN)	The fallback PIN for employees who have not set their own. Choices: last 4 of the employee identifier, last 4 of external employee ID, date of birth (MMDD), a shared PIN for everyone, or none.

Who Can See What (same page):

Setting	Default	What it changes
Who can see attendance records across the whole organization?	App admins only	Controls organization-wide visibility. Managers always see their direct reports and anyone at their held locations. This setting decides who also sees everyone else. Options: App admins only, All managers, or Specific people.

6. More help

• Time & Attendance FAQ — specific setup and operating questions, limits, and troubleshooting.
• Shifts & Scheduling App Overview — building the schedule that Time & Attendance tracks against.
• Timesheets App Overview — where approved hours go after attendance is recorded.
• Ask AI — the assistant answers questions about Time & Attendance from these articles.