4 ways to clock in employees who don't have smartphones.

How to clock in employees without smartphones

A worker without a smartphone can't use an employee time clock app, so somebody else's device has to do the work: a landline, a shared tablet, or a supervisor's phone. That leaves four practical methods.

1. 1Phone dial-in. The worker calls a number from any phone and enters an ID and PIN.
2. 2Shared PIN kiosk. A tablet by the door, where each worker types their PIN.
3. 3Foreman crew-clock app. The foreman opens an app and taps each worker's name.
4. 4Supervisor-scanned QR badges. Each worker carries a printed badge, and the supervisor's phone or a door tablet scans it.

Plenty of time clocks offer one or more of these, and some offer several. Here's how they compare when you have a crew to get to work.

The four methods side by side

When each method fits

Each of the four is the right answer for someone.

• Phone dial-in suits a few solo workers who each start at a different site and carry a basic flip phone. Nobody is there to scan a badge, and a call beats a scrap of paper.
• A PIN kiosk suits one building where everyone walks past the same door. It's simple, but expect PINs to get shared unless a manager watches.
• A foreman crew app suits companies that already run job costing in that app and need every hour tagged to a cost code. ClockShark's crew clock and similar tools do this well; see TrackBadges vs ClockShark.
• QR badges suit crews that start the day together, at a gate, a truck, a shop door or the edge of a field, and want proof that each person was there.

Why badges work best for crews

Scanning a badge is faster than finding a name in a list, and it needs the badge to be there. The supervisor holds up a phone, the worker holds up a card, and the screen shows their name with "Clocked in". A crew of eight is done in under a minute.

• No PIN to remember or share. Nobody types anything, so there's nothing to pass to a friend.
• No reading required. Workers who don't read English, or don't read well, just hold up a card.
• Phones can stay in lockers. Plants and food lines that ban phones on the floor still have a time clock.
• Day-one hires. A seasonal worker without a phone is on the clock as soon as their badge prints.
• Any phone the supervisor has. The scanner is a web page, so even the supervisor installs nothing.

TrackBadges isn't the only time clock with printable QR codes; some apps include them as a feature on a higher plan. Here the supervisor-scanned badge is the whole product, every feature is on the free plan, and there are no supervisor seats to buy. The best time clocks for employees without smartphones compares the options, and how to stop buddy punching covers why seeing each person matters.

Don't make workers use their own phones

If you require employees to clock in on a personal phone, some states make you pay for it. California Labor Code 2802 requires employers to reimburse necessary business expenses, and Cochran v. Schwan's Home Service (2014) held that this includes a reasonable percentage of personal cell phone costs when employees must use their phones for work. Illinois has required reimbursement of necessary expenditures since 2019 (820 ILCS 115/9.5). A badge time clock sidesteps the question, since no employee phone is involved. This isn't legal advice; check your state, and read can employers require personal phones?

When badges aren't the right fit

If each worker starts alone at a different location, nobody is there to scan a badge. For a solo cleaner or a field tech, a GPS app on their own phone works better, or phone dial-in if they don't have a smartphone. The badge scanner also needs a data connection when it scans. For crews that do start together, see the crew time clock or a kiosk time clock by the door.