Glossary
Time clock glossary
The words you'll run into when you track hours and pay a crew, defined in a sentence or two — with links to the full guides.
- 7-minute rule
- The 7-minute rule is the common name for rounding time punches to the nearest quarter hour: 1 to 7 minutes past a quarter hour round down, and 8 to 14 minutes round up. Federal rules allow it under 29 CFR 785.48(b) as long as it averages out so employees are fully paid for the time they actually work. In California, meal-period punches can't be rounded (Donohue v. AMN Services, 2021). Read more
- Audit trail
- An audit trail, or edit history, is a log of every change made to a time record: the original punch, the new value, who changed it, when and why. The FLSA requires accurate records rather than a specific audit format, but an edit history is how an employer shows that corrections fixed mistakes instead of cutting hours. Good time clocks keep the raw punch and never overwrite it. Read more
- Auto clock-out
- Auto clock-out automatically ends a shift that has been open longer than a set limit, such as 12 hours, so a forgotten clock-out doesn't run all night. It's a safety net, not a pay rule: employees must still be paid for the hours they actually worked. Auto-closed shifts should be reviewed and corrected before payroll. Read more
- Badge time clock
- A badge time clock records hours when an employee's ID badge is scanned or tapped at the start and end of a shift. Badges can carry a barcode, a magnetic stripe, an RFID chip or a QR code. With QR badges, a supervisor's phone or a shared tablet can do the scanning, so employees don't need a smartphone. Read more
- Biometric time clock
- A biometric time clock identifies employees by a physical trait, usually a fingerprint or face and sometimes a hand or iris, instead of a card or PIN. It makes buddy punching very hard. Collecting biometrics triggers notice, consent and retention rules in some states, including Illinois (BIPA), Texas and Washington. Read more
- BIPA
- BIPA is the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (740 ILCS 14), which requires written notice and consent before an employer collects biometric identifiers such as fingerprints or face geometry, plus a public policy for retaining and destroying them. Damages are $1,000 per negligent and $5,000 per intentional or reckless violation. A 2024 amendment limits recovery to one violation per person per collection method. Read more
- Buddy punching
- Buddy punching is when one employee clocks in or out for another, such as punching in a late coworker or clocking out a friend who left early. It's a form of time theft and a common reason for discipline or firing. It's stopped by verifying the person rather than the card or PIN, for example with a supervisor who sees each worker scanned or a biometric clock. Read more
- Compensable travel time
- Compensable travel time is travel that counts as hours worked and must be paid. Under 29 CFR 785.38, travel between job sites during the workday is compensable, and so is travel from a required meeting place, such as the shop or yard, to the job site. The normal commute from home to work generally isn't (29 CFR 785.35). Read more
- CR80 card
- A CR80 card is the standard ID card size: 3.375 × 2.125 inches (85.6 × 54 mm), the same as a credit card. It's the ID-1 format in ISO/IEC 7810, so CR80 badges fit standard badge holders, card printers and wallets. Eight fit on a letter-size page. Read more
- Crew clock
- A crew clock is a time clock where one person, usually a foreman or crew lead, clocks in a whole crew instead of each worker clocking in alone. Some crew clocks have the lead tap names in an app; others have the lead scan each worker's badge, which also confirms each person is there. Read more
- Daily overtime
- Daily overtime is overtime owed for hours over a daily limit, not just over 40 in a workweek. Federal law has no daily overtime. California requires 1.5× pay over 8 hours in a workday and 2× over 12, and Alaska, Nevada, Colorado and Puerto Rico have their own daily rules. Read more
- Double time
- Double time is pay at twice the regular rate. Federal law never requires it, but California does for hours over 12 in a workday and for hours over 8 on the seventh consecutive workday of a workweek (Labor Code 510). Some employers also pay double time for holidays by policy or union contract. Read more
- Emergency action plan
- An emergency action plan (EAP) is a written plan for what employees do in a fire or other emergency. OSHA's rule at 29 CFR 1910.38 requires it to cover reporting emergencies, evacuation routes, critical shutdowns, rescue and medical duties, a contact for questions, and procedures to account for all employees after evacuation. Employers with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally. Read more
- Exempt employee
- An exempt employee is not covered by the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime rules, usually because they're paid a salary and do qualifying executive, administrative, professional or similar work. Being salaried alone doesn't make someone exempt: the job's duties and pay both have to meet the test. Federal law generally doesn't require employers to record exempt employees' hours.
- FLSA
- The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the federal law that sets minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor rules for most US employers. It requires overtime at 1.5× the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, and the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division enforces it. States can set higher standards, and employees get whichever rule is more generous. Read more
- Geofencing
- Geofencing draws a virtual boundary around a work site so a time clock app can block or flag clock-ins made outside it. It relies on the GPS of the device used to clock in, usually the employee's own phone. It's different from a GPS stamp, which only records where a punch happened. Read more
- GPS stamp
- A GPS stamp is the location recorded with a single time punch: where the phone or tablet was at the moment of the clock-in or clock-out. Unlike continuous GPS tracking, it says nothing about where someone went between punches. Unlike a geofence, it doesn't block a punch. Read more
- H-2A
- H-2A is the US visa program for temporary foreign agricultural workers. Employers must offer at least three-fourths of the work hours in the contract period, record hours offered and hours worked each day, and give workers an earnings statement every payday. Records must be kept at least 3 years after certification (20 CFR 655.122). Read more
- Kiosk mode
- Kiosk mode locks a tablet or computer to a single app or web page, so a shared device can serve as a time clock without anyone wandering into other apps. On iPad it's called Guided Access; on Android it's app pinning, which Samsung calls Pin windows. Groups of devices can be locked remotely with mobile device management (MDM). Read more
- Missed punch
- A missed punch is a clock-in or clock-out that never got recorded, usually because the employee forgot. The employer has to correct the record to the actual time worked and pay for it. A good process notes who made the correction, when and why, and has the employee confirm it. Read more
- Muster point
- A muster point, or assembly point, is the pre-arranged place outside a building where everyone gathers after an evacuation so they can be counted. A good muster point is clear of the building, traffic and fire trucks, marked with a sign, and paired with a backup in another direction. Read more
- NFC time clock
- An NFC time clock uses near-field communication, a short-range wireless technology built into most smartphones. Usually an NFC tag is mounted at the work site and each employee taps it with their own phone and app to clock in. That proves a phone was at the tag, not who was holding it. Read more
- Non-exempt employee
- A non-exempt employee is covered by the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime rules, so they must be paid at least 1.5× their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Most hourly workers are non-exempt. Employers must record their hours worked each workday and each workweek. Read more
- Off-the-clock work
- Off-the-clock work is work an employee does without it being recorded, such as finishing a job after being clocked out, taking calls during lunch or setting up before clocking in. If the employer knows or has reason to know about it, it's hours worked and must be paid (29 CFR 785.11 to 785.13), even if a policy forbids it. Read more
- On-call time
- On-call time is time an employee must be available to work if called. Under federal rules it counts as hours worked if the employee must stay on the employer's premises, or so close that they can't use the time for their own purposes (29 CFR 785.17). Being reachable by phone at home generally doesn't count, unless the restrictions are heavy.
- Overtime
- Overtime is extra pay for hours beyond a legal limit. Under the FLSA, non-exempt employees get at least 1.5× their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek, and there's no federal daily overtime. Some states add daily overtime or higher rates, and employees get whichever rule pays more. Read more
- Pay period
- A pay period is the stretch of time a paycheck covers: weekly, every two weeks, twice a month or monthly. It's separate from the workweek, and overtime is still calculated per workweek even when two workweeks fall in one pay period. State laws set how often employees must be paid.
- Payroll export (CSV)
- A payroll export is a file of approved hours, usually a CSV (comma-separated values) spreadsheet, that a time clock produces for payroll. It typically lists each employee's regular and overtime hours for the pay period. It opens in Excel or Google Sheets, or uploads to a payroll provider.
- Punch clock
- A punch clock is a time clock that records when employees start and stop work. The name comes from mechanical clocks that stamped the time on a paper card. Today it also covers digital and app-based clocks, where employees “punch” in with a badge, PIN or phone. Read more
- Punch rounding
- Punch rounding adjusts recorded clock-in and clock-out times to the nearest increment, such as 5, 6 or 15 minutes, to simplify payroll. Federal rules allow it if it averages out so employees are fully paid over time (29 CFR 785.48(b)); rounding that always favors the employer isn't allowed. Good systems keep the raw punches and apply rounding on top. Read more
- QR code time clock
- A QR code time clock records hours when a QR code is scanned at the start and end of a shift. In one kind, employees scan a code posted at the site with their own phones. In the other, each employee carries a printed QR badge that a supervisor's phone or a shared tablet scans, so employees don't need a phone. Read more
- Qualified overtime compensation
- Qualified overtime compensation is the part of overtime pay that counts for the federal “no tax on overtime” deduction created in 2025: the premium portion (the half in time-and-a-half) of overtime required by the FLSA. Workers can deduct up to $12,500 a year ($25,000 married filing jointly) for tax years 2025 through 2028, phasing out above $150,000 of income ($300,000 joint). Overtime required only by state law doesn't qualify; check IRS guidance. Read more
- Regular rate of pay
- The regular rate of pay is the hourly rate that overtime is calculated from. It includes the base rate plus most other pay for the workweek, such as nondiscretionary bonuses and shift differentials, divided by the hours worked; discretionary bonuses and expense reimbursements are excluded. Overtime is at least 1.5× this rate, which can be higher than the base wage. Read more
- RFID badge
- An RFID badge is an ID card with a radio-frequency chip that a reader detects when the card is held near it, without contact. Proximity (prox) badges for doors and time clocks are a common type. A reader identifies the badge, not the person, so one worker can tap in another's badge unless someone is watching. Read more
- Roll call
- A roll call, in workplace safety, is the check after an evacuation that every person who was on site is accounted for. It's done at the muster point by a designated warden, name by name, from a list of who's on site. The best list is the time clock's record of who's clocked in right now, plus visitors and contractors. Read more
- Seventh-day overtime
- Seventh-day overtime is California's rule for the seventh consecutive day of work in a single workweek: 1.5× the regular rate for the first 8 hours that day and 2× for hours beyond 8 (Labor Code 510). It applies only when the employee works all seven days of the same workweek. Federal law has no such rule. Read more
- Split shift
- A split shift is a workday broken into two or more work periods separated by an unpaid break longer than a normal meal period, for example 6 to 10 am and 4 to 8 pm. Each period is clocked in and out separately. Some states, including California, require an extra split-shift premium in some cases.
- Supervisor scan
- A supervisor scan is a clock-in method where a supervisor scans each employee's badge with a phone or tablet, instead of employees clocking themselves in. Because the supervisor sees each person, it prevents buddy punching, and employees don't need a phone or app. It's legal: the FLSA cares that records are accurate, not who records them. Read more
- Time and attendance
- Time and attendance is the system a business uses to record when employees work and whether they showed up, including clock-ins, absences, late arrivals and overtime. It can be a paper sheet, a punch clock or software. Its output feeds payroll. Read more
- Time card
- A time card is the record of one employee's clock-in and clock-out times for a period, traditionally a paper card stamped by a punch clock. Under the FLSA, time cards are among the records wages are calculated from, and they must be kept at least 2 years (29 CFR 516.6). Read more
- Time shaving
- Time shaving is reducing the hours on an employee's time record so they're paid for less time than they actually worked, for example by deleting overtime, clocking someone out while they keep working, or rounding only in the employer's favor. It violates federal wage-and-hour law. Employees can recover the unpaid wages plus liquidated damages. Read more
- Time theft
- Time theft is being paid for time not actually worked, through buddy punching, padded timesheets or long unrecorded breaks. It's usually handled as a policy violation that can lead to firing. In serious cases it can be treated as fraud or theft, depending on the amount and state law. Read more
- Timesheet
- A timesheet is a record of the hours an employee worked over a period, usually a week, broken down by day. It can be filled in by hand or built from time clock punches. Payroll uses it to calculate regular and overtime pay. Read more
- Timesheet approval
- Timesheet approval is the step where a manager reviews and signs off on a period's hours before payroll. It's when missed punches, auto-closed shifts and edits get checked. Approval locks the numbers that go into the payroll export. Read more
- Workweek
- A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour days, that the employer sets, such as Sunday 12:00 am to Saturday 11:59 pm. FLSA overtime is calculated per workweek, and each workweek stands alone, so hours can't be averaged across two weeks. It doesn't have to match the calendar week or the pay period. Read more
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