The Time Rules Card within Empeon's time and attendance integration helps to define how punches are entered and reflected within the employee's time card. This card includes parameters for rounding rules, duplicate punch management, and how to handle punches that extend across multiple days. What is unique to this card is the ability to set up multiple sets of "Time Rules" that can be catered toward different groups of employees, if necessary. This flexibility ensures that the time entry process can be tailored to meet the specific needs of various employee groups, enhancing the overall efficiency of how the attendance system tracks time.
Much of what is already set up within this Card is configured by Empeon's Implementation Team based on the responses provided in the Time & Attendance Questionnaire. Understanding these settings can be beneficial for making necessary adjustments; however for major adjustments to these settings, do not hesitate to contact Empeon's Customer Support for further assistance.
To view and maintain these settings, navigate to the Attendance section of the Company tab and select the Time Rules Card.
Please note that within this Card, there is the ability to set up multiple sets of Time Rules, to be applied toward different groups of employees, if necessary. In all cases, there will be a "DEFAULT" set of Time Rules that applies to all employees. However if a new set should be set up, there is a blue 'plus' icon in the top right corner of the screen.
Each set of Time Rules has the following settings which control various aspects of how time punches are handled:
- Group - If only one set of Time Rules is established, it will be labeled as "DEFAULT," indicating that these rules apply to all employees. For any additional Time Rules created, the "Group" label will display the assigned Cost Center and/or Job Info condition used to define the group of employees to which the specific set of Time Rules applies.
- Use Rounding - This toggle activates punch rounding, allowing for additional settings to determine how rounding should be applied to punches and the calculation of total hours worked.
- Round To - This establishes the nearest minute that the punch will be rounded to.
- Midpoint Rounding - This setting specifies whether midpoint punches (when applicable) should be rounded up or down to the nearest minute.
Example: Based on the screenshot below, if punches are set to round to the nearest 10 minutes and round up at the midpoint, a punch timestamp of 2:51, 2:52, 2:53, or 2:54 will be rounded down to 2:50pm, while, timestamps of 2:55, 2:56, 2:57, 2:58, and 2:59 will be rounded up to 3:00pm. Since the timestamp for 2:55 is the same amount of time between 2:50 and 3:00, the Midpoint Rounding rule would apply this timestamp to 3:00 since it is rounding up and not down.
If 15 minutes is established in the Round To field, then the midpoint setting is not applicable, as there is no midpoint timestamp within a 15-minute range. For example, timestamps from 2:46 to 2:52 will be rounded down to 2:45 PM since they are closer to that time, while timestamps from 2:53 to 2:59 will be rounded up to 3:00 PM, as there is no timestamp that falls equidistantly between the two.
- Pairing Threshold - This sets the maximum length of time that a clock-in punch can be from a clock-out punch in order for the attendance system to pair these punches. A set of punches that extend longer than the length of time set in this field would be considered as two separate punches from each other. In this case the system would also indicate that both punches will have two missing punches since the system is recognizing that they are separate from each other. The first box specifies the maximum number of days the punches span across, while the second box indicates the maximum number of hours within that day.
- Shift Separator - This setting is only applicable if you are utilizing Empeon's ZKTeco US15C time clock to punch in and out. Please leave the existing configuration of this field as is, and in any circumstance where editing is required, please consult with Empeon's Customer Support.
- Duplicate Punch Threshold - This setting specifies the amount of time from the first recorded punch during which the system will reject any duplicate punches made within that timeframe. In scenarios where an employee punches in and may try to punch in again because they feel the first punch might not have gone through, the system will block the duplicate punch if it is made within the timeframe specified in this field. For example, if this field is set to five minutes, any duplicate punch made within five minutes of the initial punch will be rejected by the system.
- Previous Day Threshold - This field is used to manage situations where an employee's punches span across two days. If left blank, an employee who clocks in at 11 PM for an overnight shift and clocks out at 7 AM the next day will have their hours split between both days. However, if a threshold is set, the system will apply the entire shift to the previous day (the day of the clock-in), provided the total shift duration does not exceed the specified threshold.
- New Day Start - This setting allows you to define when a new day begins, overriding the standard 12:00 AM reset. For instance, in a nursing facility with overnight shifts starting at 11:00 PM, management may choose to set the new day start at 11:00 PM instead of 12:00 AM. This ensures that any hours worked before 11:00 PM are counted toward the previous day, while any hours worked after 11:00 PM are applied to the next day.
- New Day Start Type - This setting works in conjunction with the New Day Start time and determines whether hours worked between midnight and the custom New Day Start time (e.g., 11:00 PM) should be attributed to the previous or current day.
- Selecting "Previous" means that any hours worked after midnight but before the 11:00 PM New Day Start time will be applied to the previous day.
- Selecting "Current" will apply those hours to the current day, starting from 11:00 PM.
- Split Day Threshold - This setting splits punches when an employee's clock-out time exceeds the threshold. For example, if the threshold is set to 7:00 AM and an employee clocks out at 8:00 AM, the system will automatically split the punch: clocking the employee out at 7:00 AM, clocking them back in at 7:00 AM with a post date of the current day, and then clocking them out again at 8:00 AM.
- Split Day Start Type - This setting specifies whether the Split Day Threshold is applied to the current day or the previous day. This determines how the system will categorize the time when splitting punches that cross into the next day based on the threshold.
For any additional sets that are added there is a section at the top where conditions can be built out to determine which groups of employees the set of Time Rules should be applicable to.
For any questions relating to these Time Rules, or guidance with significant adjustments being made to these settings, please contact Empeon's Customer Support.