The purpose of this idea is to empower managers to clock in employees who may otherwise not be able to punch in because clock lockout is restricting them.
One of the most common questions I get from clients that want to use -- or are already using -- the clock lockout feature is how they can perform a manager override at the clock to allow an employee who was not scheduled or was asked to come in early to punch in.
For a myriad of reasons, it's not always practical for the manager to be able to get to a workstation and change the employee's schedule to avoid clock lockout, especially when they are using the TWP scheduler and not TS. In that case, when the employee attempts to punch in, they will not be able to because they weren't scheduled.
If this occurs, a manager should be able to perform a manager override on the punch to get it into the system without having had to change the schedule. The thought process for this is as follows:
- Scheduled Employee A calls in sick for their shift on Monday from 9:00a-5:00p.
- The manager, while on the floor, is running the business's operations while trying to find another employee to cover the open shift.
- Employee B agrees to cover the shift.
- The manager is either not able to leave the floor to go and change the schedule or the manager does not input the schedules and wouldn't be able to change this themselves.
- Employee B goes to punch in for the shift they're covering at 9:00a only to find they can't punch in because they are not scheduled to work Monday.
- At this point, Employee B should be able to go to their manager and ask them to punch them in because they weren't scheduled.
- At the clock, the manager presses a [Manager Override] button that would be added to the TWT software and display on the same screen as the current date and time.
- Pressing the [Manager Override] button prompts for the manager's TWP username and password, like it does if you hit the "gear" button.
- The manager enters their credentials.
- The clock returns to the home screen. The words "Manager Override!" appear, in red, on the and will allow the next punch to go through as if the employee had their Enforce Schedule option set to "Do Not Enforce."
- Employee B places their fingerprint on the prism (or uses their prox card or PIN) and punches in.
- The manager is then prompted to enter the time Employee B came in (cannot be later than the current time), or to just hit [Override] to punch them in for the current time.
- On Employee B's timecard, the punch that was just made comes up in bold red to show, at a glance, it was a manager override.
- On Employee B's audit trail, the manager override punch will show the punch was made from a registered clock, like usual, and specify the actual time the punch was made (regardless of what time the manager overrode it to). This allows other managers or admins to clearly see what time the employee made the punch at the clock vs. what time they were punched in for.
- The clock does not enforce schedule for Employee B for 18 hours following the first punch of the day.
For supervisors, if the ability to do a manager override can be permissionable, I think that would be best to control access to who can and can't override clock lockout. Client accounts should always be able to override clock lockout.
Attached is a flow chart that relays the idea above in an easier to read format.
The process outlined in this idea will give managers the best of both worlds, where they have the ability to adjust the schedule if they're able to but at the same time enjoy the comfort afforded to them by knowing they can override a punch at the clock when and if necessary, provided they have the authority (access) to do so. I have seen this feature on many other timeclocks. Thank you for any/all consideration!
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