Definition: Attendance tracking is the systematic recording of employee work time and absences, including clock-in and clock-out times, meal breaks, late arrivals, early departures, and time off, using methods such as time clocks, mobile apps, kiosks, or timesheets.
For hourly teams, attendance data is payroll data. Every minute an employee works affects gross pay, overtime, and labor cost. The same records also show managers who is reliably on time, which shifts are short-staffed, and whether a schedule actually matched demand. Weak attendance tracking leads to three problems: overpayment from padded or inaccurate times, underpayment that creates wage claims, and blind spots that make scheduling and discipline unfair.
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to keep certain records for each nonexempt worker. According to DOL Fact Sheet #21, the required items include the time and day of week when the employee’s workweek begins, hours worked each day, total hours worked each workweek, regular hourly pay rate, total overtime earnings for the workweek, and total wages paid each pay period, along with identifying information. The Act “requires no particular form” for these records.
The same fact sheet explains several points that shape any attendance system:
Rounding is permitted within limits. Under 29 CFR 785.48(b), clock times may be rounded “to the nearest 5 minutes, or to the nearest one-tenth or quarter of an hour,” but only if the practice does not, over time, fail to pay employees for all time actually worked. Section 785.47 allows insubstantial, hard-to-record periods to be disregarded as de minimis, but not regular working time that can practically be recorded.
| Method | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Paper timesheets | Very small teams | Rounded or estimated entries, lost sheets, manual math |
| Fixed time clock or tablet kiosk | Single-site shifts | One device per site; buddy punching without photo or biometric checks |
| Mobile app with GPS | Field, multi-site, and remote crews | Clear location policies; geofence boundaries set correctly |
| NFC tags | Specific posts, rooms, or job sites | Tag placement and replacement |
| Biometric clocks | High-volume sites where identity matters | Check state rules on biometric data before rollout |
Worked example (hypothetical): A store uses quarter-hour rounding in both directions. Over one week, an employee’s actual punches total 38 hours and 52 minutes. Rounded, the timecard shows 39 hours. Another week, actual time is 39 hours 8 minutes and rounded time is 39 hours. Over the two weeks, actual time is 78 hours 0 minutes and paid time is 78 hours, so the rounding is neutral. If the system rounded only in the employer’s favor, the employee would be underpaid over time, which section 785.48 does not allow. You can check totals with the time card calculator.
The right method depends on where work happens. A single restaurant with one back door can run well on a tablet kiosk at the entrance. A cleaning company with crews at a dozen client sites needs a mobile app with location checks, because employees never pass a central clock. Security and healthcare teams that rotate through posts or rooms often place NFC tags at each point so a tap confirms presence. Large sites with frequent identity problems may add biometric clocks. Many businesses combine methods, such as a kiosk for the main location and mobile punches for drivers.
Whatever you choose, test it against the questions an auditor or employee might ask: Does the record show actual start and end times? Can it show meal breaks separately? Can you prove who made each edit and why? Can employees see their own records? If any answer is no, the system creates risk even if it is convenient.
EZTime is built for hourly attendance tracking. Employees clock in with the GPS mobile time clock with geofencing, NFC tags, a tablet kiosk, or biometric clocks; overtime and break alerts warn managers before problems reach payroll; and timecard corrections keep an audit trail. Schedules built with AI shift scheduling and shift templates sit next to actual punches, PTO/absence management separates planned leave from no-shows, and payroll-ready Excel/PDF exports work with any payroll software. See the attendance clock and pricing: from $2/employee/month, with a 14-day trial.
This is general information, not legal advice.
DOL Fact Sheet #21 lists items such as hours worked each day, total hours each workweek, the regular hourly rate, overtime earnings, and total wages per pay period. No particular form is required.
DOL says records on which wage computations are based, such as time cards and work schedules, should be kept for two years, and payroll records for at least three years. State rules may be longer.
Federal rules permit rounding to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth, or quarter hour, as long as it does not, over time, fail to pay employees for all time actually worked.
DOL allows a record of a fixed schedule, but when actual time differs, you must record the hours actually worked. A system that captures real punches is the safer approach.