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.
• To track time with either of the time tracking modes described below, employees need propose permissions to their Attendance data. By default, this means they can also edit their time entries in their Attendance section. This applies to both widgets and can’t be prevented. If you don't want employees to edit past or future time entries, apply time tracking restrictions.

Create a time tracking policy

Follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > Attendance.
2. Below Policies, click Time Tracking.
3. In the top-right corner, click New time tracking policy.
4. 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".
5. Set up your policy rules, referring to each of the sections’ descriptions below.
6. Save the policy.

Time tracking modes

Time tracking modes determine how your employees record their working hours. You can enable one or both modes, and add location tracking when employees use clock in/out.

If you want employees to only track their time using a shared device paired with the Entrance app:

1. Only enable the Entrance app option.
2. Give your employees view permissions for their own Attendance area, instead of Propose permissions. This way, they can’t track time any other way.

If you have employees who track time overnight, we recommend you choose the clock in/out widget as the time tracking option these employees see. This is because the manual tracking widget only records time for the current day and resets at midnight.

Track employees’ location

If you enable the clock in/out option, 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.

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 deducts the required break from their working time to comply with both break rules. 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

If your employees don't need to track time, we recommend the following settings:

• Time tracking policy:
  1. Disable the Clock in/out and Entrance app options.
  2. Leave the rest of the sections as they are.
• Permissions: 
  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Click Employee roles > All employees > Permissions.
  3. Scroll down to the Attendance data section and deselect every permission. The role should have no permissions set. 

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.