Setting up Clock In Clock Out

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to set up Clock In Clock Out.

Enablement of Clock in Clock Out

SAP SuccessFactors Clock In Clock Out is a feature to track when employees are clocking in and clocking out from work. It automatically shows their recorded time in the Time Sheet.

Prerequisites

Ensure you've enabled Time Sheet, the Time Sheet UI, and SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking before you implement Clock In Clock Out.

To start the configuration, the solution needs to be activated first. The Clock In Clock Out can be enabled only in Provisioning.

A customer doesn't have access to Provisioning. To complete tasks in Provisioning, a customer must ask an implementation partner. If they're no longer working with an implementation partner, they must contact Product Support.

Once activated in Provisioning, the permissions are found under Administrator Permissions→Manage Clock In Clock Out.

Screenshot of Edit HR Admin for Employees interface. Shows sections for Basic Information and Add Permissions, with options for managing HR processes and user permissions, including Clock In/Out.
Edit HR Admin for Employees screen showing Add Permissions. Lists user permissions like managing Clock In/Out settings, time events, and groups. Options to configure, create, and delete events.

Once the role-based permissions are set up, you can navigate to Admin Center and access Configure Clock In Clock Out.

Time Event Types

A Create Time Event Type popup shows fields for code, title, description, event, and status.

Create Time Event Types to identify the employee's activities like the start of work, that you can refer to as clock in, or the end of work that you can refer to as clock out. For example, to record the activity of employees entering their workplace, you can create Clock In or In as the time event type. Depending on your business needs to implement Clock In Clock Out for your organization, you can also set up the time event types like "in", "out", "start break", "end break", "start lunch", "end lunch", and so on.

Create Time Event Types

Create the time event types to capture the different employee activities by using these steps.

Steps

  1. Navigate to Configure Clock In Clock Out and choose Time Event Types and Groups.

    Result

    You are on the Time Event Types and Groups page.

  2. Go to Time Event Types and choose Create.

  3. In the Create Time Event Type page, create the Time Event Type as needed.

  4. Choose Create.

Result

The Time Event Types and Groups page appears with a confirmation message that the time event type is created.

Clock In Clock Out Groups

A popup is displayed to create a group with fields for code, title, and event types, and location capture.

Create Clock In Clock Out Groups so that you can add the employees to specific groups based on their designation, assignment, and responsibility. Clock In Clock Out Groups is the combination of Time Event Types that can be used for the employees assigned to this group. For example, one group has permission to the Time Event Types In, Out, and Lunch, and another group has permission to In, Out, Lunch, and Business Trip.

Prerequisites

  • Enable the Configure Clock In Clock Out permission to see the Configure Clock In Clock Out page.
  • Enable the Create Clock In Clock Out Groups permission.
  • To edit and delete Clock In Clock Out groups, enable Edit Clock In Clock Out Groups and Delete Clock In Clock Out Groups permissions.

Create Clock In Clock Out Groups

Create Clock In Clock Out Groups, so that you can add the employees to specific groups by using the following steps.

Steps

  1. Navigate to Configure Clock In Clock Out and choose Time Event Types and Groups.

    Result

    You are on the Time Event Types and Groups page.

  2. Go to Clock In Clock Out Groups and choose Create. The Create Clock In Clock Out Group window appears. 

  3. Define the group that you want to create.

  4. Choose Create.

    Result

    The Time Event Types and Groups page appears with a confirmation message that the Clock In Clock Out Group is created.

Clock In Clock Out Settings

Clock In Clock Out Settings page allows you to manage the various aspects of Time Events and also enable the Workflow Process.

Edit Clock In Clock Out Settings

Edit Clock In Clock Out Settings by using these steps.

Steps

  1. Navigate to Configure Clock In Clock Out and choose Settings.

  2. On the Settings page, choose Edit to modify the Clock In Clock Out settings as needed.

  3. Select Save to save the settings.

Time Type Derivation

This step is optional and, if not configured, all the external time data created from Clock In Clock Out uses the Default Import Attendance Time Type defined in the Time Profile of the employee.

You can derive a specific time type for the pairing of time events. For example, a time event pair with starting time event type Break is mapped with Time Type Break. Whenever two time events are paired in Clock In Clock Out, the corresponding time event pair is saved as external time data in Employee Central.

To define the Time Type that is used for pairing of time events, you can configure the Clock In Clock Out Time Type Derivation Configuration object.

Prerequisites

  • Enable permissions to view and edit for Clock In Clock Out Time Type Derivation Configuration in Manage Permission Roles→Time Management Object Permissions.
  • Ensure you have configured Time Event Types.

Note

Create an MDF object with the external code: TIME_TYPE_DERIVATION_CONFIG.

Screenshot of Manage Data page showing Clock In Clock Out Time Type Derivation Configuration with rules for Clock In and BreakIn, including categories and external codes.

Let’s look at the example as outlined in the preceding figure.

  • All Time Event Pairs that are created due to an opening Clock In event is mapped to the Time Type Working Time.

  • All Time Event Pairs created due to an opening Break Time Event is mapped to Time Type Break Time Type.

  • All others use the Default Import Attendance Time Type defined in the Time Profile of the employee.

Configure Time Type Derivation

To derive a specific time type for the pairing of time events, configure Time Type Derivation by using the following steps.

Steps

  1. Navigate to Manage Data.

  2. On the Manage Data page, go to the Create New section and select Clock In Clock Out Time Type Derivation Configuration from the dropdown.

  3. In the screen, create the object with the external code: TIME_TYPE_DERIVATION_CONFIG and all values as needed.

  4. Choose Save.

Assignment of Employees to Clock In Clock Out Groups

To add the employees to the specific Clock In Clock Out Group, you have to enable the Clock In Clock Out Group field for Job Information in the employee's profile by using the Manage Business Configuration tool.

Screenshot of Employee Central page showing HRIS elements and fields for job information, including position, company, department, and various settings with options for details and actions.

Only those employees that are assigned to a Clock In Clock Out Group can record time events. Clocks In Clock Out Groups are the combinations of time event types to which employees are assigned based on their designation, assignment, and responsibility. For example, one group can access the time event types "In", "Out", and "Lunch" while another group can access "In", "Out", "Lunch", and "Business Trip". Once you’ve configured the Clock In Clock Out Groups, you can add employees to them.

Enable Clock In Clock Out Group Field in Job Information

Enable Clock In Clock Out Group Field in Job Information by using the following steps:

Steps

  1. Navigate to Manage Business Configuration.

  2. From the HRIS Elements section, select jobInfo.

  3. Enable the time-event-type-group-id field and select the Time Information option of the Job Information for section.

  4. Choose Save.

  5. Next, make this field accessible via role-based permissions in Admin Center→Manage Permission Roles→Manage Permission Roles→Employee Central Effective Dated Entities→Job information.

  6. Assign employees to Clock In Clock Out Groups via New Hire, Manager Self Service (MSS) or Import when importing employee data for Job Info.

    Edit HR Admin for Employees page showing permission settings for various roles, including options like View Current, View History, Edit/Insert, Correct, and Delete for job information fields.

    Note

    Only employees who have a Time Recording Variant = Clock Times and a Time Recording Profile with Time Recording Method = Positive can be assigned to a Clock In Clock Out Group.

    Admin Center's Time Management Configuration Search page with options for employees, time types, and profiles. Dropdown for Clock In Clock Out Group shows 'Lunch Basic Puncher' selected.

  7. To see all employees assigned to a specific Clock In Clock Out group on a specific date, use Admin Center→Time Management Configuration Search.

Grace Period Rounding

To prevent unnecessary overtime or time violations if the recorded times differ only slightly from the defined start and end times, you can set up grace period rounding.

Grace periods are generally defined near the start and end times of a period of scheduled working time. Time recorded in these grace periods is rounded to the start or end time. For example, the start time of a working period is 8 AM. You’ve defined a grace period of five minutes before and five minutes after 8 am. If an employee clocks in at 8.03 am, the start time is rounded to 8 am. Similarly, if an employee clocks in 7.55 AM, the start time is again rounded to 8 am.

You configure the rounding of the grace period in the work schedule day model and in a dedicated rounding configuration model.

Work Schedule Day Model page showing time segments from 08:00 AM to 05:00 PM with breaks. Includes settings for time recording, cross-midnight, duration, and planned hours.

Set Up Grace Period Rounding

Note

This feature isn't necessarily tied to CICO, but can also be used when employees record their attendances manually in the time sheet.

  1. To create a rounding configuration object, choose the plus icon next to the Rounding field in the work schedule day model or the details of a day in the work schedule.
  2. Enter an external name and an external code.
  3. In the rounding specification, select if the rounding reference point is a start time or an end time.
  4. Enter the minutes before and after that you want to round to the reference point.

    The reference point is a start time. You enter 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after. If an employee clocks in up to 10 minutes before the scheduled start time, the recorded clock time is rounded to the scheduled start time. Similarly, if an employee clocks in up to 10 minutes after the scheduled start time, the recorded clock time is rounded to the scheduled start time.

    Manage Data page is displayed for 10 min-rounding based on work schedule. Shows external code, creation details, and rounding specifications for start and end times with reference points.
  5. Enter an external code.
  6. If necessary, add another line in the rounding specification.
  7. Save your changes.
  8. Depending on your configuration, open the details of a day in the work schedule or open the work schedule day model.
  9. In the Rounding field, select the rounding object that you've created

Synchronization of Clock In Clock Out Employees

Employees who are assigned to a Clock In Clock Out Group in Job Information must be replicated in Clock In Clock Out solution. To synchronize the employee information from Employee Central with Clock In Clock Out, you can create the Clock In Clock Out Employee Full Synchronization Details object. This object allows you to perform a full synchronization of employee data from Employee Central.

Prerequisites

  • Enable permissions to view and edit for Clock In Clock Out Employee Full Synchronization Details in Manage Permission Roles→Time Management Object Permissions.
  • Ensure that the Clock In Clock Out Group is added to the employee's job information.
Clock In Clock Out Employee Full Synchronization details showing last sync date 09/13/2021, success status, 41 employees synchronized, external code, and trigger option set to No.

Whenever you add, remove, or update the Clock In Clock Out Group information in Job Information of the employees in Employee Central, the employee data is synchronized automatically in Clock In Clock Out.

Create Clock In Clock Out Employee Full Synchronization Details Object

To synchronize the employees from Employee Central with Clock In Clock Out create Clock In Clock Out Employee Full Synchronization Details Object, use the following steps:

Steps

  1. Navigate to Manage Data.

  2. On the Manage Data page, go to the Create New section and enter Clock In Clock Out Employee Full Synchronization Details.

  3. On the next screen, provide the details only for External Code: EMPLOYEE_SYNC_CONFIGURATION and Trigger Full Synchronization: YES.

    The remaining fields are read only and are auto populated with the synchronization results.

  4. Choose Save to save the Clock In Clock Out Employee Full Synchronization Details object.

Result

With the field Trigger Full Synchronization, the full sync can be triggered. After the sync has finished, the details can be found in the read-only fields.

Note

To find any inconsistencies in the replicated Clock In Clock Out employee data, you can run the Check Tool by selecting Clock In Clock Out employees are synchronized under Clock In Clock Out→Employee Synchronization.

There are further optional steps like Enablement of Workflow Processes that can be configured for Clock In Clock Out. For full information on Clock In Clock Out in SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking, refer to the documentation on SAP Help Portal.

Integration of External Time Tracking Services with Clock In Clock Out

Every terminal vendor needs to send time events to Clock In Clock Out. To do that, you need to call an external REST API. To call the external REST API, you need the bearer, that is, the authorization token.

To set up connections between a Terminal and Clock In Clock Out, you need to complete the following steps.

  1. Create an API Key to create an OAuth token.

    Connect the terminal so that you can set up to send the time events to Clock In Clock Out. After you register an application, you'll get an exclusive API key and private key for your application to access SAP SuccessFactors APIs.

  2. Create an OAuth token.

    Generate the SAML Assertion and OAuth token. The authorization token is needed for calling an external REST API to send time punches from terminal to Clock In Clock Out.

  3. Use REST API for sending Time Events from Terminal to Clock In Clock Out.

    The REST API helps to post time events to Clock In Clock Out system. This REST API sends time events one by one or in bulk to Clock In Clock Out. A maximum of 1000 items can be sent with one API call in bulk mode.

By using this method, you can post the time events from any external time tracking system, terminal, or external device to Clock In Clock Out.

For detailed information on the Integration of Clock In Clock Out, refer to the SAP Help Portal.

To explore Clock In Clock Out in SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking, refer to the following sap blog post: Clock In Clock Out in SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking – Overview and How-To Guide.

Geofencing for Clock Time

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.

Learning

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