How to use the browser punch clock
In Smartplan, you can track your attendance through a digital punch clock. This punch clock is either accessed through the Smartplan app on your phone or through a browser link opened on a device at your workplace.
It is the administrators of the account who decide, how you have to access the punch clock and whether you can use it at all. If you are in doubt about your access to the punch clock, please log into your Smartplan account and contact one of your administrators from the "Employees" page.
In this article we will be focussing on the punch clock for computers/tablets, if you want to learn about the punch clock in your Smartplan app instead, click here.
- Clock into your shift
- Register a break (optional)
- Clock out of your shift
- Create a new shift through the punch clock
Clocking into your shift
Before you can even use the punch clock, an administrator will have to enter a special 6-digit passcode to open it.
When this is done, you will see something similar like this:
On the left side of the window you see an employee list. Employees that have a shift scheduled for today, will be displayed at the top. If there are many users on the account, you can use the search tool at the very top to search for your name.
The right side shows you an activity protocol for today. Here you can for example view who has already clocked into their shift and is currently working.
If you want to clock in to a scheduled shift, simply find your name in the list and click on it. You will now be prompted to fill out a personal 4-digit code:
If you don't know your personal code, click on the link at the bottom of the number pad in order to receive it by email. Alternatively, the code can also be found in your personal profile at the very top.
After entering the 4-digit code, you have to choose which shift you would like to clock in to. In this case, there is only one shift scheduled for me here today, so that is the one I will clock in on:
After clicking on "Clock in", you will be lead right back to the main page:
Register your break
Depending on what setting the admin has chosen for the account, your breaks can be registered in three different ways:
- Breaks are already entered by an administrator beforehand and are deducted from your attendance automatically. In this case you will not have the option to register your breaks through the punch clock.
- Break times are entered by you at the end of your shift. While clocking out of your shift, there will be the option to "Register break time". Here you can choose the duration of your break from a drop-down list. This duration will then be subtracted from your working hours.
- Breaks are registered by clocking in and out to them during your shift. This option will become available as soon as you are clocked into a shift. When you click on your name again afterwards, there will be a button to begin your break.
The same procedure applies, when you want to end your break. Simply click on your name, enter your passcode and click on the button "Back from break".
Clocking out from your shift
To clock out from a shift, use the same procedure that was already described before. Click on your name, enter your 4-digit passcode and you will get the opportunity to "Clock out":
You will then be lead to another page, where you can enter the duration of your break (depending on the chosen punch clock settings) and leave a comment about the shift. Both fields are optional.
A comment makes sense if something out of the ordinary happened during your shift or when your attended hours deviate greatly from the originally planned shift times. Shift comments will only be visible to the administrators on the account.
Create a shift through the punch clock
That's right, you can create shifts on your own! This might for example be relevant if you have been called to work on short notice, maybe because somebody got sick during their shift.
This means that you can register your attendance in the punch clock without actually having a shift planned and assigned to you in the rota.
As usual, simply begin by finding and clicking on your name in the employee list and entering your personal 4-digit passcode. You will now see this button:
After clicking on "Create shift and clock in" you will be asked to enter a few more details about the shift you are creating. First, choose the job position that you will take on while you are at work:
Second, you have to choose, which location the shift should be created in. You only have to choose this if you are not using location specific links for the punch clock:
When you have done this, you will be able to clock in:
As soon as you are clocked in, it works just like any other shift. So to register your break times or clock out, simply follow the instructions as described in the chapters above.
Note: Depending on your account's settings, you might be asked to enter an expected end time for the shift as well. This can for example be used if you forget to clock out of your shift. However, whenever you clock out, the actual time stamp will overwrite your initial statement