Introducing SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking

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).

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.

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.

Business circumstances can change after an initial absence request is approved. This may cause absences sometimes overlap with other absences, for example, an employee may fall sick mid-week during an approved vacation, or an open-ended sickness absence may overlap with a future pre-approved vacation. In other scenarios, absences can also conflict with attendances, for example, an employee may return from a doctor's appointment earlier than expected and try to record their attendance, or an employee with a full-day absence may still need to record on-call time.

The TIME_COLLISION_RESOLUTION object allows you to configure how the system handles these overlaps. This object enables automated resolution of time conflicts to support flexible time recording scenarios.

To set this up, ensure Time Tracking is active and configure the TIME_COLLISION_RESOLUTION object under Manage Data. Here you can define the Time Type Collision Grouping, Incoming and Existing Groupings, and Collision Resolution settings.

Ensure the RBP access has been given to Time Management Collision Resolution.Absence and Attendance Collision Resolution under Time Management Object Permissions category to view the Absence and Attendance Collision Resolution section in the Time Management Collision Resolution Object.

A geofence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. You can use a geofence to ensure that employees clock time using a mobile device only when they're within the desired location.

By enabling geofencing, an organization can prevent employees from recording time when they aren't within the desired location.

Administrators can:

• Create, copy, modify, delete, activate, and deactivate geofences using the Manage Geofences page. A geofence can be of a circular or polygonal shape with a defined boundary. For more details, refer to the Related Information section.

• Assign geofences to employees using the Create Clock In Clock Out Group page. You can assign multiple geofences to different Clock In Clock Out groups.

• Ensure that employees are allowed to clock time only when they're within an assigned geofence.

• Specify the type of time event types that require geofence validation. For example, clock in, clock out, and so on.

• Define time event types that you can record outside the geofence.

• Get the geofence details for every clock time action, so that you can view from the Manage Clock In Clock Out page and the Time Sheet UI. The geofence details allow for better traceability.

Employee can:

• Clock time using a mobile device only when within the assigned geofence.

• View the distance from your current location to the nearest geofence.

When creating or reviewing manual time events, employees can select and view geofence details including the geofence name and code, along with the distance, helping them identify the correct geofence when recording time. To enable this, navigate to Configure Clock In Clock Out→Settings→Time Events Creation and enable the Geofence Field.

• Clock In Clock Out (requires Time Tracking license) captures time events from physical terminals, web punches, or mobile devices and converts them into time sheet entries through time event pairing.
• Four pairing rules govern how incoming time events are processed: Start following Stop (standard clock in, no pairing), Start following Start (nature of attendance changed, previous period paired), Stop following Start (standard clock out, previous period paired), and Stop following Stop (cannot be paired automatically, requires manual intervention).
• Time events created manually in the Time Sheet UI or Manage Clock In Clock Out are saved with Entry Type set to Manual and trigger a workflow if one is configured.
• Geofencing allows organizations to restrict clocking to specific geographic locations. Geofences are created via Manage Geofences (circular or polygonal) and assigned to employees via Clock In Clock Out Groups.