Declaration of Unpaid Time Off: We are occasionally asked about functionality to automatically deduct time off for unpaid breaks/lunch each shift. In an effort to do what we can to promote your company's compliance with DOL guidelines, and given the increasing number of claims against employers for not accurately paying employees due to automatic deduction of time, we have decided against implementing this functionality. In it's place, we are happy to introduce the ability for employees to actively declare their unpaid break time taken at punch out for the day, as part of the eXtended Punch (XPunch) page option.
While we always encourage the real time capture of all punches, we have developed the option for employees who cannot punch in and out over the course of their shift for unpaid breaks. When enabled, the employee will see an "Unpaid Time Off" section at punch out using the XPunch page. This will default to NONE, and employees who took unpaid break(s) will enter the number of minutes (up to 60) here before clicking "Punch Out."
When this is done, the minutes declared will be tied to the entry (and thus subtracted from total paid time) and the record will be audited within the timesheet (showing the employee declared the time at punch out).
Time Sheet Time Zone Display: As always, punch times are captured in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and then converted to local time zone for display purposes based on a variety of ways to assign time zone, otherwise defaulting to Central Standard Time (CST). We've now introduced visibility around time zone display for both the punch entries and entries to be added.
Within timesheets, the time zone tied to each entry will now display as part of the "Entry Date." For employees and/or managers adding entries themselves, there will also be a note below "Add Entry" letting them know the time zone the added entry will be tied to (based on computer registration). If you have any questions about altering your registered time zone(s), please contact your support representative.
Back-to-Back Punch In Control: It has come to our attention that some employees are punching in multiple times in succession, either because they think the first did not register or because they do not remember if they had already punched in. We have added a control to prevent this. If an employee attempts to punch in within four hours of an existing open punch in (no punch out), they will receive a note saying:
You Have Already Punched In For The Day. Please Contact Your Manager If There Is A Problem With Your Punch Time.
After four hours, they will be allowed to punch in without closing the prior punch, to accommodate those situations when an employee forgets to punch at the end of the shift and still needs to clock in for their next shift.
