When a user clocks in, an attendance log is created, recording the shift, team and attendance type. Clock in typically occurs when a user logs in to MESTEC for the first time in a day. It can also be triggered through an interface with third party access control or time and attendance systems.
Shift and Team selection
When a user logs in, they will have the option to clock in depending on their Shift Selection. Their Shift Selection mode is chosen in the New/Edit Users form which determines how a shift and team is selected. The modes are:
- Auto: The user will be automatically clocked into their default Team and Work Pattern or the closest available shift.
- Prompt: The user will always be prompted to select which shift and team they are working.
- None: The user will not be clocked in by default and will have to manually select their shift if they want to clock in.
A user will see the team and shift they are logged into in the top right menu.
Default Attendance Type
When a user clocks in, the attendance log is automatically created using the default Attendance Type for the selected shift. This can be edited manually changing the shift selection as described below, or by editing the timesheet.
Manually change shift selection
- A user can change their shift selection by clicking on the Options (person) icon in the top right menu and selecting Change Shift.
- This displays a popup containing the shift and team you are currently clocked into. You can select a different team and/or shift to update your attendance log. Note that if you do not want to update your existing attendance log, but want to create a new attendance log (for example if you are changing teams mid-shift) then you should clock out and then clock back in.
Logic applied for the Auto Shift Selection
A user may be associated with multiple work patterns. For example, a user could be associated with the following shifts:
- An early shift (6 am to 2 pm)
- A day shift (9 am to 5 pm)
If you are in Auto mode, which of the two shifts is the right one to clock the user onto? The system applies the logic below to decide which shift to clock the user into.
When you define a Shift Type, you specify a Clock-in Margin in minutes.
In the image above, a 60-minute margin on a 9 am to 5 pm shift will allow you to clock in from 8 am till 5 pm.
Considering the current time and the user's work patterns, which shifts is the user permitted to clock into?
Then it checks if any of those is your default. It will pick your default. If none of those is your default, it will pick the one that has its start time closest to the current time.
