Explaining Clock In Clock Out

Clock In Clock Out helps you track employees' time when they use the swipe machine or any external time tracking service like a terminal. It automatically records the duration of time events in SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking.

Clock In Clock Out integrates the external time events coming from the time tracking services like a physical terminal or clock time punch via the web or a mobile device to the Time Sheet. Time events are the time stamps for an employee’s entry and exit from work. When employees enter the named office of work, they swipe the card or punch the badge, and the external time events are created.

Let’s look at the following example: An employee, Pauline, clocks in at 08:00 and 4 hours later out with reason, break start. After 30 minutes, she clocks in again, and after another four hours, she clocks out. Three records are created for these time events: 08:00 – 12:00 is working time; 12:00 – 12:30 is break time; 12:30 – 16:30 is working time.

When you implement Clock In Clock Out, these time events come from the time tracking system to SAP SuccessFactors Time Sheet through time event pairing and can be processed for time valuation.

It's also possible from Mobile, to Clock Time Quick Action in Android, and iOS Mobile Apps

The Clock Time quick action shows all supported actions and not the next logically possible action only.

The Clock Time quick action in the SAP SuccessFactors Mobile application allows you to select from a wider set of time event types. In the web application, you have the More option when you select the dropdown menu on the Clock Time button.

If an employee forgets to clock out on a particular day, on the following day, this employee sees an option to clock out and not clock in only; for example, if an employee clocked in at 8:00 am and forgot to clock out at 5:00 pm. The following day, when the employee returns at 7:30 am and tries to clock in, only a clock out option is visible and not clock in. This user experience is hardly ideal, so the functionality is enhanced by allowing employees to select from a list that includes all possible actions and not limited to the next logical action.

For time valuation, we convert time events of specific Time Event Types into time event pairs. The process of combining two time events, like clock in and clock out into one-time event pair, is called Pairing. In principle, the pairing arranges individual Time Events on a timeline.

Consequently, all Time Events fall into two major categories, during which a person is either:

• Attendant (start something for the company)
• Non-attendant (end something for the company)

For automated pairing, the Event attribute in the Time Event Type is important. A Time Event Type can be defined as Start (starting an activity) or Stop (ending an activity). With the two basic categories, these pairing rules are for incoming time events:

• Start following Stop: This time event type is the standard clock in event. A new period of attendance starts and no pairing occurs.
• Start following Start: The person is still at work, but the nature of attendance has changed, which also implies the end of the previous attendance, resulting in pairing of the previous attendance period.
• Stop following Start: This time event type is the standard clock out event. The previous attendance period ends and results in pairing of the attendance period that ended.
• Stop following Stop: This time event type is an incoming event and can't be used for pairing. This event requires manual intervention.

The Clock In Clock Out solution in SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking always creates a Time Event Pair if a valid Time Event is recorded, at most 24 hours, after a valid Time Event of type Start for the same employee's employment.

The automatically created Time Event Pairs are published to SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking and converted to an External Time Data, which results in a Time Sheet entry.

You can view and maintain Time Events based on granted permissions in the Clock Time quick action or the Time Sheet UI (both used by employees) and in Manage Clock In Clock Out UI (used by admins).

By using the Manage Clock In Clock Out page, the administrators and managers can view the time events of those employees for whom they have the target population permission. In this UI, you can filter the Time Events and see relevant data such as the Employee Name, Date and Time, Pairing Status, Terminal ID, Approval Status, Validation Status, and so on.

If the corresponding permission is granted, you can also create and delete Time Events. Time Events created in the Manage Clock In Clock Out UI are saved with Manual as the Entry Type, and triggers a workflow if configured.

You can also download the entire page summary with the displayed time events in an Excel format by using the Export to Spreadsheet option available next to the Settings option. You can use this data for printing or for audit purposes.

The easiest way for an employee to use Clock In Clock Out in SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking is the quick action Clock Time on the Homepage. On this page, you can create and view your own Time Events.

As an employee, you can use the Time Sheet UI to view, create, or delete your Time Events as well. This UI respects the defined permissions, and employees can only view, create, or delete their own Time Events once the corresponding permission is assigned.

Time Events created in the Time Sheet UI are saved with Manual as the Entry Type, and triggers a workflow if configured. Let’s deep dive in the next lesson into how you can configure the Clock In Clock Out Solution for your organization.