This article explains how to create time tracking policies in Personio. Time tracking policies set the rules for how your employees record their working hours. They cover tracking modes, time entry restrictions, and break configuration. After you create a policy, you assign it to employees so their time tracking follows consistent rules.

Before you start

• To create time tracking policies, you need Edit permissions for Account configuration > Attendance.
• You must assign a time tracking policy to your employees, even if they don’t actively track time. This is a system requirement that cannot be changed. Refer to our recommended settings for this scenario.
• For employees to track time using any of the modes described below, they need Propose permissions to their Attendance data. 
  • By default, they can also edit their time entries in the Attendance section. You can apply time entry restrictions to limit when employees edit entries. You can restrict edits to a set time window, or by status, so employees can only edit time entries until they're approved. To stop employees from editing time entries altogether, disable manual tracking in their time tracking policy.
• You can assign the time tracking policy and enable attendance permissions in either order. However, both need to be in place before the employee can track time according to the policy.
• A time tracking policy governs how employees track their own attendance. It doesn't change what they can do with other people's attendance. For example, let’s say you create a time tracking policy that disables manual tracking. An employee on that policy with Propose rights for themselves and their reporting line can do the following: 
  • Track (only) their own time using live tracking.
  • Manually correct their reports' time entries when needed. 

Create a time tracking policy

Follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings.
2. In the Time off & attendance section, click Attendance.
3. Below Policies, click Time Tracking.
4. In the top-right corner, click New time tracking policy.
5. Add a name and description for your policy. We recommend using a descriptive name to help you identify the policy settings, and a description with more details. For example: "Clock in/out, 8-hour daily cap".
6. Set up your policy rules, referring to each of the sections’ descriptions below.
7. Save the policy.

Time tracking modes

Tip:
If you don’t use our time tracking feature for your employees, you can leave both modes disabled.

Time tracking modes determine how your employees record their working hours. You can enable live tracking, manual tracking, or both. For each mode, you can choose which methods are available. 

If you allow a mode but don’t select any method, an error appears. You need to enable at least one method before you can save the policy. 

The following table lists the time tracking modes and the methods available for each.

For each mode, select Allow [mode] on specific methods and choose the methods you want to make available.

Live tracking (clock in/out)

• Web app: Employees record their work hours using the clock in/out widget on the homepage.
• Mobile app: Employees record their work hours using the clock in/out widget on the mobile app.
• Entrance app: Employees record their work hours in real time with the Entrance app on shared devices.

When you enable live tracking on web or mobile, location tracking settings become available. See how to track employees' location below.

Manual tracking

• Web app: Employees record their work hours by entering start and end times in the Attendance tab and on the homepage.
• Mobile app: Employees record their work hours using the Attendance feature in the mobile app.

When you enable manual tracking, time entry restriction settings become available. See how time entry restrictions work below.

Track employees’ location

If you enable live tracking via the web app or mobile app, you can also decide to track your employees' location when they track time. Keep in mind:

• The system tracks the employees' location only when they clock in and out.
• Location tracking is supported on clock-in widgets on web or mobile. Your employees must install the latest version of the mobile app for the location tracking to work.
• Desktop and laptop location tracking is generally less accurate than on mobile devices. If your employees track time using a desktop or laptop, consider setting a larger geofencing radius for your workplaces.
• Employees can decide whether they want to share their location or not, and delete their location after the tracking.
• If they don't share their location, or delete it after doing so, this appears in the timesheet and in-context attendance logs.
• You can create an approval workflow for time entries that violate location settings.

You have two options to track employees’ location with different features, described below:

Time entry restrictions

Time entry restrictions control when employees can add or edit time entries. Use these settings to limit changes to past, future, or approved entries. These settings are available when you enable manual tracking.

Past time entries

Use this setting to decide if employees can add time entries to past days, or restrict them with one of the two following options:

• The Restrict time entries to be added to past days setting lets the employee add time entries to a limited number of past days. If you set this number to zero, the employee:
  • Can only track time for the current day and future days if permitted.
  • Can't track overnight hours.
• With the Lock previous month's entries on a specific day setting, the employee can only add time entries for the previous month until a specific day of the following month.

Future time entries

Use this setting to decide if the employee can add time entries for days in the future or not.

Approved time entries

Use this setting to decide if the employee can modify a time entry after it's been approved or not.

Keep in mind:

• The limits set by the past and future time entries settings also apply to the editing of approved time entries.
• With no approval workflow in place, time entries are automatically approved as soon as submitted. In this case, the employee can only edit an auto-approved time entry on the same day they enter it.

Work and break configuration

These settings define the limits and rules for daily work hours and breaks. Configure maximum hours, minimum break duration, break rules, and how Personio handles long breaks during night shifts.

Maximum hours

Set up a limit for the number of work hours that employees can track per day. If you restrict maximum work hours per day, choose one of the following options:

Allow tracking over the limit and warn the employee

Employees:

• See a warning when tracking more than the limit.
• Can save the time entry and add a reason for it.

Attendance approvers see these requests as non-compliant through the Time Tracking Approvals.

Prevent tracking over the limit

Employees:

• See a warning when tracking more than the limit.
• Cannot save the time entry.

Minimum break duration

Employees see a warning when tracking a break shorter than the minimum, and can’t save the time entry.

Break rules

Add up to two break rules to define the minimum required break length for every set amount of work. You can't save a work schedule you're working on if:

• The required break length is shorter than the minimum break duration set above.
• The second break rule contradicts the first one. In other words, the second break rule can't establish a shorter break for a longer amount of work, or a longer break for a shorter amount of work.

After you define break rules, select one of the three enforcement actions described below. These actions trigger exactly as specified by the break rules and do not retroactively apply to already existing time entries.

Alert people when breaks are missing or don't comply with the break rules

Employees:

• See a warning when not tracking enough break times.
• Can save the time entry and add a reason for it.

Attendance approvers see these requests as non-compliant through the Time Tracking Approvals.

Restrict people from saving time entries if breaks are missing or don't comply with the break rules

Employees:

• See a warning when not tracking enough break times.
• Cannot save the time entry.

Automatically add breaks if they are missing or don't comply with the break rules

When employees don't track enough break times, the system:

• Adds as many required breaks as necessary to comply with both break rules you have set up.
• Deducts the break time from the employee's working time. 
  • If there isn't enough working time to deduct the break, the system reduces the working time to avoid break rule violations.

This applies to time entries tracked using the Attendance tab, time clock, mobile app, and terminals. Automatic breaks don't apply to time entries with break property submitted via public API (PAPI), and to imported ones.

Employees:

• Can save the time entry, and the system applies the breaks automatically.
• Can edit the time entry and the auto-break applied. If they do, the break times they add must comply with the established break rules.

Break rules example

You set up the two break rules below, and choose the option to add breaks automatically.

1. After 6 hours of work, employees must track a 30-minute break.
2. After 9 hours of work, employees must track a 45-minute break.

Employee A tracks 8 hours of work, without any break. To comply with the first rule, the system automatically deducts 30 minutes of working time and adds the break after 6 hours of working time.

Employee B tracks 7 hours of work, 45 minutes of break, and 3 additional hours of work. The break added manually complies with the second rule, so the system doesn't change it. However, to make the time entry comply with the first rule, the system adds a 30-minute break to the first work period.

Employee C tracks 6 hours and 15 minutes of work. According to the first rule, the system should add a 30-minute break, but there’s not enough working time to do so. So, the system reduces the working time to 6 hours instead.

Workday split threshold

This setting defines how long a break can be during a night shift before the system treats it as the start of a new workday. The default setting is 4 hours, but the accepted range is between 2 and 14 hours.

Here’s how it impacts time tracking:

• If a break is shorter than the set threshold, Personio counts it as the same workday.
• If a break is longer than the set threshold, Personio counts it as a new workday.

Examples:

For daytime work, the same threshold applies. However, breaks longer than 4 hours don’t appear in the Attendance page, and they don’t start a new workday.

Recommended settings for employees that don’t track time

• For employees who don’t track time with Personio, we recommend configuring the following permissions:
  1. Go to Settings.
  2. In the People section, click Roles & permissions.
  3. Select the respective employee role. 
  4. Click Permissions.
  5. Scroll down to the Attendance data section and deselect every permission. The role should have no permissions set.
• If your employees don't track time with Personio, you can disable both tracking modes in their time tracking policy.
• If they track time using a partner integration and you want to apply automatic breaks in Personio, you can set break rules in their policy. When time entries reach Personio, the system then applies the automatic breaks based on your settings. For this type of policy, you can leave tracking modes disabled. 

Next steps

1. Set your default time tracking policy and assign time tracking policies to your employees.
2. Optional: Create overtime policies, only necessary if your employees track overtime.