The latest version of ExakTime Mobile will include the option to warn or restrict an employee if the time on their device and of the network, such as from a cell tower, has a variance greater than 5 minutes or if there is no network to compare against. Network time is used to synchronize the time of participating computers and electronics to ensure a consistent time and mitigate inconsistent time between devices. 

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Enabling Security Role Permissions
• Other Considerations
• What ExakTime Mobile Users Experience
• Reporting

Requirements

• 'Network Time' warnings and restrictions are only available on ExakTime Mobile version 2.93 and newer.
  • If your employees are unsure what version of ExakTime Mobile they are using, they can refer to the following article on how to check their ExakTime Mobile version. This article can also be accessed from the 'Help' section of ExakTime Mobile.

Enabling Security Role Permissions

For an employee to receive a warning or restriction when clocking in/out, the appropriate permission must be enabled for their security role.

The 'No network time warning or restriction' setting is enabled by default.

You can enable any of the following options as needed:

• Warn employees when clocking in/out if network time is unavailable, or device time does not match
  • If an employee receives the warning, they can still clock in/out.  
  • Require employees to add comment when clocking in/out - Warning like above, but also require the employee to add a comment if they are clocking in or out with a time variance. The employee's comment will appear on their time card with the associated time record for you to review.
• Do not allow employees to clock in/out if network time is unavailable, or device time does not match.
  • If an employee receives the restriction message, they cannot clock in/out until their device's time and network time match or are within the 5-minute time variance threshold.
  • It is highly advised to consider federal, state, and local labor laws when using this setting.

Other Considerations

Unable to Access a Network

A potential obstacle is your employee's devices not connecting to a network while the restriction is enabled. This can be due to issues such as no service in the area or airplane mode being enabled on the device. If your employees work in a remote location, you may want to consider using the 'warning' option instead of 'restricting'. If you are aware of your employee 

What ExakTime Mobile Users Experience

When employees clock in or out, they will encounter any of the following scenarios depending on the employee's permission.

1. Employee clocks in/out and the time of their device and network match or are within a 5-minute variance.
   • The employee will clock in/out as normal and will not receive any warnings/restrictions.
2. Employee clocks in/out and the time of their device and the network exceed the 5-minute threshold:
   • If warning is enabled - The employee will receive a warning and can provide a comment about why their time does not match, if enabled.
   • If restriction is enabled - The employee will receive a message that their time does not match between their device and network, and to correct their time. 
3. Employee clocks in/out and is unable to connect to a network for any reason:
   • If warning is enabled - The employee will receive a warning and can provide a comment about why their time does not match, if enabled.
   • If restriction is enabled - The employee will receive a message that their time does not match between their device and network, and to correct their time. 

Examples of the warnings and restrictions have been provided below:

Reporting

We offer the 'Time Record Variance Report' to help with reviewing employees and variances between their device and network time. This report can be used for all ExakTime Mobile punches, regardless if you have the 'Network Time' permissions enabled or not.

You can learn more about the report with the following article.