At Connecteam, we know that timesheets need to be accurate and precise. The time clock feature is a simple-to-use solution for both users and administrators to get real and exact times with a click of a button. We also understand that sometimes users can experience difficulties when clocking in due to time clock settings, mobile GPS settings, or other reasons.
In this article, you will find the most common reasons that prevent users from clocking in. If a user reports that he can't clock in, you can easily go through all the solutions this article offers, to understand what is causing the user to not be able to clock in and troubleshoot the issue.
💡Tip: We always recommend that you first understand, by speaking with the user, what error message he is receiving when trying to clock in. Knowing this specific detail will help you identify the issue.
Here are the potential reasons users can't clock in:
Not Assigned - The user can't see the time clock feature.
Qualification - The user can't see the job he needs to clock into.
GPS Location - Geo location and Geo-fence settings are configured.
Limitations - A user clocks in not within the time clock's limitations.
Approved Timesheet - The user gets a message saying "This day was locked".
Now let's elaborate on all the possible reasons:
Not Assigned
If the users can't see the time clock feature in their mobile upper toolbar, that means they are not assigned to the time clock. To edit the time clock's assignments, access the time clock and navigate to the 'More' button. Select the edit assignments and choose the specific smart group needed.
To learn more about the time clock edit assignments have a look at this article.
💡Tip: If you checked your time clock is assigned to specific smart groups and your user still can't see the time clock, then you may need to add them to the relevant smart group. Check out this article on smart groups to learn more.
Qualification
If a user reports that when clocking in, he doesn't see the job he needs to clock into on the job list, this likely indicates that the user is not qualified for that job.
As an administrator, you will need to give him a job qualification. To make the qualification, simply access the time clock, navigate to the settings and select the jobs tab. Then, access the relevant job and click on the job's settings. Make sure the user is checked in the qualified list or part of the chosen relevant smart group. You can learn more about it here.
GPS Location
If you have set the Geo-fence capability to make sure users clock into the job within a specific fence site, and users claim they can't clock in, there can be several reasons for that:
If the user gets a pop-up saying No Jobs Found that could be due to two reasons. First, the user is not qualified for any job. You'll need to make sure he's qualified for at least one job. Second, The user is not on the geo-fence. As an admin you need to check the geo-fence is associated with a job the user is qualified for. Go to the time clock's settings, directly select the geo-fence, and under the available jobs choose the job the user is qualified for.
Another reason why the user can't clock in is that he must enable his location in his mobile app settings. All he will have to do is simply go to the mobile settings, access the Connecteam app, and allow the location to be set as Always. It is important to emphasize that the location will never be shared when you are off the clock.
If he's physically on-site but still can't clock in, it's important to know the user's GPS accuracy is not always perfectly accurate and may differ due to connectivity, location, mobile device, etc. To ensure location within the fenced area, the user should simply move further into the fenced area so that on the map, the entire blue dot is in the green fenced area. Then, the user will be able to clock in or out.
In addition, we highly recommend in this case increasing the geofence size from the time clock settings. Simply access the time clock, navigate to the settings, select the Geo Location tab, go to the specific geo-fence, and increase the fence size.
Limitations
If the users report they can't clock into the time clock, it's possible you enabled the Limitations capability. There are three reasons related to an activated time clock that prevent users from clocking in:
It is possible that the limitation of "Users can clock in up to X minutes before their assigned shift starts" is enabled. So if users try to clock into the shift before this time, they will not be able to. From the user's perspective it will appear as follows:
It might be the Custom limit by days is activated, meaning there is a set daily boundary that clocking in is available only from a certain hour. So users who try to clock in before the daily designated hours can’t clock in. From the user’s mobile app, it will be displayed as:
If the option "Users can clock in without scheduled shifts", from the 'Clock in & out' tab of the settings, is toggled off, users will only be able to clock in if they have scheduled shifts. Meaning, that if users have no scheduled shifts for that day, the clock-in button will be greyed out and inaccessible for them. From the user's perspective it will appear as follows:
Approved Timesheet
If a user can't clock in and gets a message saying "Can't clock in. This day was locked by your admins", then it is an indication that an admin has approved their timesheets on the current payroll period. When an admin has approved the timesheet of a user, all dates will be locked in that period and prevent any changes from being made to this period, including preventing users from clocking in on those dates.
From the user’s mobile app, it will be displayed as:
You can easily revert the approval of a payroll period and reopen the user's timesheets so they can clock in again by following the next steps:
Go into the Time Clock, then access the Timesheets tab
Find the user who is currently unable to clock in and access their timesheet
In the top right corner, you will see an indication that the timesheet has been approved. Click on the three dots » select Reopen
A pop-up warning will appear, please click on Reopen again
💡Tip: To quickly reopen timesheets for multiple users, use the bulk action feature. Go to the Timesheets tab, click the square icon at the top left to select all timesheets, then click Actions and select Reopen. When the pop-up warning appears, click Reopen again
General
In addition to all of that, we also suggest trying basic troubleshooting steps. For example, make sure the user's application is updated. Here is a guide explaining how to update the app version. Another step can be trying to reset the app by exiting it or by uninstalling and reinstalling the app.
In conclusion, if users can't clock in, there are several ways you can quickly and efficiently resolve the issue yourself and get back to managing your team seamlessly.
If you've tried all of the troubleshooting steps we've suggested here but need more guidance? 🙋 Our LIVE support team (at the bottom right corner of your screen) replies in under to ANY question.