Time clock for hospitality
A hotel time clock for housekeeping, laundry and maintenance.
A hotel time clock records when housekeeping, laundry, maintenance and other back-of-house staff start and end each shift. With TrackBadges, a tablet at the employee entrance scans each worker's printed QR badge, once in and once out, and a supervisor's phone works as a second scanner. Staff need no app or smartphone, and a split shift is just an extra scan out and in.
What the time clock has to handle
Housekeepers without smartphones
Many staff don't have a smartphone or a data plan, and many speak different languages. A badge needs no phone and nothing to read.
Split shifts
Breakfast from 6 to 10, back at 5 for the evening. Two scans out and in, one day on the timesheet.
Three departments, one entrance
Housekeeping, laundry and maintenance all come through the same back door. One tablet clocks in every department.
How a hotel time clock works at the back door
Mount a tablet at the employee entrance, by the uniform room, and pair it as a scanner. Room attendants, laundry staff, house attendants and maintenance hold up a printed QR badge on the way in and on the way out. Nobody types a PIN or needs a phone.
A weekday at a 150-room hotel:
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 6:00 a.m. | The breakfast attendant scans in at the back entrance. |
| 7:00 a.m. | Laundry starts. Two attendants scan in. |
| 7:30 a.m. | Maintenance scans in. |
| 8:00 a.m. | Twelve room attendants scan in before the morning meeting. The executive housekeeper sees all twelve on the live board. |
| 10:00 a.m. | The breakfast attendant scans out for a split shift. |
| 12:00 p.m. | Lunch: room attendants scan out, and back in 30 minutes later. |
| 4:30 p.m. | Room attendants scan out as their boards are finished. |
| 5:00 p.m. | The breakfast attendant scans back in for the evening. |
A supervisor's phone can be a second scanner, for staff coming in through the loading dock or a team in a second building. Scanners are unlimited on every plan. The kiosk setup guide covers choosing and mounting the tablet.
Split shifts and the scan in between
A split shift is two blocks on the same day. A breakfast attendant who works 6:00 to 10:00 and 5:00 to 9:00 scans four times, and the timesheet shows 8 hours. There's nothing special to set up.
Some states add pay for split shifts; California's wage orders, for example, can require a split-shift premium. TrackBadges records both blocks of time but doesn't calculate the premium; your payroll provider applies it from the CSV export. Meal breaks work the same way, and in California, meal-period punches shouldn't be rounded (Donohue v. AMN Services, 2021). This isn't legal advice; check your state.
Staff without smartphones, in any language
Many housekeeping and laundry staff don't have a smartphone, or don't want to use one for work, and many teams speak several languages. A badge works around both. Workers don't read or type anything: they hold up a card with their name and QR code. TrackBadges' screens are in English, so a supervisor sets things up, but nobody else has to use them. More in time clocks for employees without smartphones.
A worker who forgets a badge is clocked in by PIN at the scanner. A lost one is reissued in a click and the old code stops working.
More than one property
If you run several hotels, make each one a location and pair a tablet at each back entrance. Staff who float between properties keep one timesheet: hours from every hotel add up into the same week, so overtime is worked out on the total, not per property. A view-only share link gives your bookkeeper the timesheets without an account.
Fire alarms and roll call
When the alarm sounds, guests leave through the front and staff are spread across floors. Open the dashboard on your phone and tap Roll call: it lists every staff member clocked in right now, at every property, with a checklist to tap off each person at the muster point. See the emergency roll call procedure.
What it costs
TrackBadges is free for up to 3 people with every feature. Pro is $9 a month for your first 3 people, plus $1.50 a month for each person after that, so a 45-person staff is $72 a month, with no wall terminal to buy.
When it isn't the right fit
TrackBadges records time, not rooms. It doesn't track room credits, assign sections, schedule shifts or connect to your property management system. Restaurant teams that need tip tracking need software built for that. For back-of-house teams that come through the same door, it's a time clock you can set up in a minute.
Set it up in three steps
- 01
Add your crew
Name your business and paste in your team. No signup, sales call or card — make an account once you like it.
- 02
Print their badges
Everyone gets a QR badge. Print them on plain paper or card stock. There's nothing for your crew to install.
- 03
Scan with any device
A supervisor's phone, a warehouse tablet — any device can be a scanner. Scan a badge once to clock in, and again to clock out.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best time clock for hotel housekeeping staff?
One that works without phones, PINs or reading. With TrackBadges, housekeepers hold up a printed QR badge to a tablet at the employee entrance to clock in and out. Supervisors see who's working on a live board, and timesheets apply overtime automatically.
How do split shifts work with a badge time clock?
The worker scans out at the end of the first block and back in at the start of the second. TrackBadges adds both blocks to the same day. Split-shift premiums, where your state requires them, are applied by payroll from the export.
Can hotel staff clock in without a phone?
Yes. Each staff member carries a printed QR badge, and a tablet at the back-of-house entrance or a supervisor's phone does the scanning. Staff never install an app or make an account.
Can one account cover several hotels?
Yes. Make each hotel a location and pair a tablet at each one; scanners and locations are unlimited on every plan. Staff who work at more than one property keep a single weekly timesheet.
Does TrackBadges track rooms cleaned per housekeeper?
No. TrackBadges records when each person starts and stops work, not room credits or productivity. Keep your housekeeping software for room assignments and use TrackBadges for payroll hours.
Keep reading
- Kiosk time clockTurn an iPad or Android tablet into a time clock kiosk that scans employee QR badges in the browser. No app to install, no PINs to share. Free for 3 people.
- Employees without smartphonesHow to clock in employees without smartphones: phone dial-in, a PIN kiosk, a foreman crew app, or QR badges a supervisor scans. Compared on speed and cheating.
- Set up a time clock kioskHow to set up a time clock kiosk: choosing a tablet, locking it with Guided Access or app pinning, mounting height, power, Wi-Fi and lighting for badge scans.
- Emergency roll call procedureHow to run an emergency roll call at work: OSHA's headcount rule, roll-call wardens, muster points, visitors and contractors, drills, and a step-by-step plan.
- Hours calculatorFree work hours calculator: enter a start time, end time and break to get hours worked in decimal and hours:minutes. Handles overnight shifts.
- Stop buddy punchingBuddy punching is clocking in for a coworker who isn't there. See what it costs, compare 6 ways to stop it, copy a sample policy and learn the legal basics.
Clock in your housekeeping and back-of-house teams with one phone.
Print a QR badge for everyone and scan them in and out with any phone or tablet. Free for up to 3 people — try it with your real crew before you sign up.