Time Tracking Settings

Where do I set up Time Tracking?

Purpose: To get started with BambooHR Time Tracking, you need to set up a few things in Settings. This guide will show you these options.

Table of Contents

If you have enabled Time Tracking for an employee and you make changes to Time Tracking Settings, the following will happen:

  • If an employee has not entered time yet, they will automatically transition to the new settings immediately.
  • If an employee has already entered time, they will stay on the previous settings until the current pay period ends. The employee will then transition to the new settings at the start of the next pay period.

If you need further assistance, please feel free to reach out to one of our support heroes.

Settings

If you have not already created a time tracking group, please note that there will not be a settings tab in the center column. You can edit the settings for each time tracking group individually.

Will different groups of employees need different time tracking settings?

  • If you have some employees who will need to clock in and out with a time clock and others who will track total hours worked, if you need to determine a separate approval workflow for different departments, or if you have custom overtime rules for specific individuals, time tracking groups accommodate to any and all of your time tracking needs.
  • If you have already added employees to time tracking before creating separate groups, all of the users will be assigned to the Default group. The group will not appear until you create another group, but when the second group has been created, you can easily rename the default group by clicking Settings within the Default Group tab. 

To set up the basics for Time Tracking in your account, navigate Time Tracking in Settings. Then, click Settings. If you have created a time tracking group before, you can either edit the settings by clicking on the time tracking group and selecting Settings, or you can create a new group via the Employee's tab.

1. How do your employees log time at your company?

  • Start & End Times: If your employees need to enter multiple start times and end times to track their hours throughout the day, Start & End Times will be the best option. If you select Start & End Times, you can choose to enable the time clock. The time clock feature allows employees to clock in and out throughout the day instead of entering multiple start and end times manually. 
  • Total Hours Worked: If your employees enter a single amount or multiple amounts throughout the day, Total Hours Worked will be the best option. If you select Total Hours Worked, you can choose between the following options:
    • Single entry for the whole day: This option is best if your employees enter a single amount for the entire day.
    • Multiple entries throughout the day: This option is best if your employees need to enter multiple amounts throughout the day without the restriction of start and end times.

2. Approvals

  • Who will approve timesheets?: When you select who will approve timesheets, you can choose the manager or a specific person in the account to approve timesheets for all employees. If you set the approver to the manager and the specific employee does not have a "Reports to" listed, hours worked will automatically send to the Account Owner for approval. Once an employee's timesheet sends for approval, it will go to the employee's current manager. If the employee's manager changes, the approval request will remain in the previous manager's inbox. If you set approvals to a specific person who has Time Tracking enabled, they will approve their own timesheets. 
  • Timesheets must be approved by: Enter the time and number of calendar days before the pay date that timesheets must be approved by. The time is based on your company's timezone.

3. Overtime:

  • Overtime Rules: Select either Standard U.S. and Canada Rules or Custom Rules
    • Standard U.S. and Canada Rules: Standard rules use automatic calculations based on U.S. State and Federal overtime rules, and Canadian Province overtime rules. The employee's location (listed on the Job tab) will determine which rules are applicable.
    • Custom Overtime Rules: Selecting the custom rules option will allow you to put in Daily, Daily Double, and Weekly Double overtime calculations. If you select custom overtime rules for a specific Time Tracking group, these rules will only apply to employees enrolled in that group.
  • Work week starts on: For the rules to work correctly for your employees, you need to determine the start day of your workweek. Overtime hours appear in a separate column on the Payroll Hours report. If you update the start day of the workweek after the setup of Time Tracking, you will see a note that states the change will take effect at the start of the next pay period. There will be some days on the next timesheet when overtime will not calculate. If an employee's overtime status is "Exempt" in the Compensation table, overtime will not calculate for the employee.

4. Holiday Pay*: There are two options for holiday pay, and you will determine this in the Holiday settings. Depending on which option you select, the correct amount of hours will show in the Payroll Hours report under the Holiday column for each employee.   

Timesheets will automatically adjust to reflect only holiday pay for employees if their hire date is before a holiday. If their hire date falls in the middle of a pay period with a holiday, it will not show the holiday unless the hire date is before the holiday.

5. Mobile: Check the box to allow your employees to log time and approve timesheets with the mobile app. This box checks by default, which enables Time Tracking in the mobile app. If you uncheck this box, employees will not have access to their timesheet information in the mobile app.

  • Require employee location when clocking in and out: If you set up time tracking with Start and End Times and enable the time clock, you will have the option to turn on geolocation.** If location is a requirement in Settings, it will require employees to enable location services for the mobile app to clock in and out. A map icon will show on the home screen, timesheet, and day detail indicating that location information was collected with a time entry.

Once you have selected your settings, be sure to save your changes.

*Please note: If you have purchased BambooHR Payroll, holiday hours will only sync for hourly and salary non-exempt employees who are enabled with Time Tracking. Holiday hours will not sync for salary-exempt employees, even if they are enabled with Time Tracking; however, you may manually enter holiday hours into BambooHR Payroll.

Frequently asked questions about geolocation
  1. Is location captured with timesheet edits? 
    • A location only captures when the employee clocks in or clocks out, and will not be collected when editing a time entry.
  2. Is the clock-in/clock-out location captured only for the employee or anyone who can clock in and out on a timesheet? 
    • Location only captures for the employee. If a manager or someone else clocks in or out for another employee, geolocation will not be collected or required.
  3. Can a location be edited? 
    • Locations cannot be edited or changed.
  4. If the employee is attempting to clock in or clock out via a web browser on a mobile device, will they be redirected to the mobile app?
    • Only the mobile app requires a location, so if the employee clocks in or clocks out using a web browser on their mobile device, it will not collect location information. Also, they will not get redirected to the mobile app.
  5. If the customer chooses Don’t Allow for location services, will they be shown the same modal again each time?
    • If the customer denies location services initially and an employee attempts to clock in or clock out, a modal will display saying "location services must be enabled" for a clock-in/clock-out.
  6. What if an admin or the Account Owner changes the Time Tracking mobile settings while an employee is clocked in?
    • If the settings change while an employee is clocked in, the clock-out information will reflect that change. So if the location was required when the employee clocked in,  it collected the location information, but if a setting was turned off before they clocked out, it will not require location information for clock-out.
  7. How exact is the location?
    • Accuracy is generally good but can vary as it depends on many factors (device, GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular service, obstructions, etc.). 
    • We show the “margin of error” with a circle around a clock-in/clock-out location.
  8. What are some tips for improving the accuracy of my location? 
    • Turn on Wi-Fi
    • Restart your device
    • Ensure you are in a good area with limited obstructions that could block a cellular or GPS signal.
  9. What if a location doesn’t have an address? Will it pick up the nearest address or not show an address? 
    • An address will show if location accuracy is high. If accuracy is low, likely only the city and state will show.
  10. Does geolocation always look for an address?
    • With geolocation, we will identify an address if the signal is accurate. However, if the accuracy is weak, we cannot precisely identify the exact location.
  11. Is location only captured with a clock-in and clock-out or also while using the app?
    • To help with accuracy, if you are a customer whose company requires a clock-in/clock-out location, we will gather location information whenever the app is open. However, we only save the location information when a clock-in/clock-out happens.
  12. Does Geolocation work when employees clock-in/clock-out from their computer?
    • Geolocation is only available within the mobile app and not the desktop version of Time Tracking. This is an all-or-nothing functionality for employees that can be toggled on or off in your Time Tracking settings.
  13. Do you track IP Addresses of the devices people clock-in/clock-out from?
    • Yes. The Audit Trail report tracks the IP Addresses when employees clock in or out.

**Geofencing is not currently available on the mobile app.