TimeSimplicity & Other Product Ideas

Disable mobile punches if location services is off.

I had a client inquire about having a feature added to disable mobile punches if location services is off.

  • Guest
  • Dec 31 2019
  • Will not implement
  • Jan 31, 2020

    Admin response

    Location services is a setting controlled by each individual device and there is no way to control whether an employee disable or enables it on their device.

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  • Guest commented
    February 01, 2021 03:03

    Hi there,


    I just wanted to respond to the Admin Response. I don't believe that is what Heartland Payroll was requesting. We all understand that users control their Location Services setting, and the app cannot be forced to keep it on.


    Heartland is asking for the Mobile Punching options to be disabled IF the employee disables their locations services. Here is an example:

    • Jane Doe has Mobile Punching enabled and GPS Tracking Enabled

    • Since GPS Tracking is Enabed, the TW+ App would know that the setting is triggered for that employee

    • if Jane were to disable Location Services, then the TW+ App would display a "Location Services are disabled, so mobile punching is not allowed" message

    • Note: the app would know to check the GPS Tracking setting under Employee Setup

      • if the setting is switched to Off, then the App would know to always display the mobile punching options


    By making this change, you would not be forcing the app to always track locations, but this would improve the experience of so many clients. Our clients routinely struggled with managing their different flags and notifications, and have very little ability to know when an employee is just making a mistake, and when they are intentionally switching off the setting to record punches in places they are not supposed to be.


    By not restricting punches in these settings, it frustrates our clients and takes away from the effectiveness of the solution. We sell the feature to clients as means of being more modern, offering a convenience to their staff, while also having a touchless alternative to physical clocks. When they find out that some employees can (and will) routinely turn off the tracking , it becomes cumbersome and frustrating to track and manage the exceptions, and leaves them feeling like there were sold something different than they were promised.


    Thank you,


    Greg

  • Guest commented
    August 21, 2020 17:05

    I would like to see this item reconsidered. Employees are intentionally disabling location services so the employer doesn't know where they are when the punch in/out.

    Couldn't the app check if location services is enabled on the device before allowing the employee to record a punch? If it is disabled, the punch is not allowed.