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 situations/reasons that prevent users from clocking in. When a user reports that they can't clock in, you must first understand exactly what they see. We suggest asking them for a screenshot so that you can better identify the issue. Then, browse this article to find the troubleshooting steps for that specific situation.
These are the potential situations users might encounter:
Now, let's expand on each of these situations and how to solve them!
User Can't See the Time Clock Feature
If the user can't see their Time Clock at all, as displayed in the images below, they are not assigned to the Time Clock. You can solve this by editing its assignments.
Begin by accessing the Time Clock feature from the left sidebar, then click on the three dots next to the relevant clock and select Edit assignments. Here, you need to check if the time clock is assigned to smart groups or selected users. If it's by selected users, you can simply add the user and then confirm the new assignments. If it's by smart groups, please follow this guide to add the user to the relevant smart groups so they are automatically assigned to the time clock. Once you are done editing the assignments of the Time Clock, the user will see it on their mobile app.
User Can't See the Needed Job or It Says "No Jobs Found"
If the user reports that they can't see the job they need to clock into, for example, the job called 'Travel', or that they get a message saying "No jobs found", as displayed in the images below, there are several possible reasons to explain and solve it.
Possible reasons and solutions:
The job hasn't been assigned to the Time Clock » to check if this job is assigned to the time clock and, if not, assign it; please follow this article if you have the Jobs tab on the left sidebar or follow this article if you don't.
The user isn't qualified for the necessary jobs » access the Time Clock, then the Jobs, find the missing job that the user needs to clock into and check the qualifications. If the user hasn't been qualified for it, add them. To learn more about qualifying users for jobs, click here.
The user is outside the geofence » If you have a geofence activated for certain or all jobs, the user needs to be within the needed location to view the job and clock in.
The user is within the geofence but still can't see the job » If the user claims they are indeed within the fence, it's important to access the Time Clock setting, navigate to the Geolocation tab, find the specific geofence you need, and do two things: (1) check if the job has been assigned to the geo-fence and (2) increase the size of the geo-fence.
User Gets a Message Saying "We Couldn't Find Your Location"
If the user is unable to clock in because the app cannot find their location, as displayed in the images below, it means you've set it as mandatory for users to enable their GPS location services in order for them to clock in.
To solve this, the user needs to access their mobile phone's Settings, find the Connecteam app, set their location to Always, and toggle on the Precise location. It's important to emphasize that the user's location will never be shared when they are off the clock.
The User's Time Clock Is Completely Greyed Out
If the user can access their Time Clock but the clock in/out button is greyed out with no option to clock into work, as displayed in the image below, it means that their Time Clock has been customized so that they are only allowed to clock into scheduled shifts, but, since the user doesn't have any shifts scheduled for that day, they can't clock in.
To solve this, you can either schedule a shift for the user to clock into, or you can adjust the Time Clock settings and allow them to clock in without any scheduled shifts.
You can learn more about this second option by clicking here.
User Sees Their Shift But Can't Clock In
If the user reports that they can see their shift but they can't clock in, 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:
User Can't Clock In Because The Day Was Locked By An Admin
If the user reports that, when attempting to clock in, they get a message saying "Can't clock in. This day was locked by your admins", as illustrated below, then it means that an admin has approved their timesheets on the current payroll period.
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.