This area is a freeform text entry. Use it to make any notes that do not belong in the memo field for a specific time span or are longer than the 80 character limit for those memos.

Some common things to note here:

• On your last day of each pay period you should confirm the total displayed in the Punch area and make a note something on the order of “My time is 39:48 as shown.” This tells payroll you saw the total and agree with it.
• Make notes regarding sick leave, vacation or other time that you expect to be paid for in the absence of explicit entries on your time card.
• Note expenses you need to be repaid for. A note here does NOT replace the need to properly document any such expenses but it will remind bookkeeping to locate the paperwork and helps ensure you get your money.
• Or generally, note anything that payroll might need to know to get your paycheck processed correctly and on time.

Implementation note: (you can probably stop reading here)

This program tries to model a physical time card and time clock. However, there are subtle differences. The idea of the card memo is to model physically writing notes on the back of a time card. When the pay period is closed out the ‘card’ along with the notes are printed out in the payroll report and archived. In theory, you are given a fresh card at the start of each pay period. In reality, the entries prior to the cutoff date and the memo are moved off to a different file and any entries made after the cutoff are retained.

The only place the metaphor and reality differ is if you put in a card memo in the period of time between the cutoff date and when the final payroll report is generated. Until the old pay period’s records disappear from your card any memo entered will go into the old pay period’s files which may not be what you intended. In reality, this should not be a problem as we normally close out the pay period early Monday morning before most employees arrive.

This area is the main ‘timecard’. It shows entries, one per line, for each span of time worked. On a typical day there will be two entries, one before lunch and one for the afternoon. However you can have as many entries on a single day as needed. Each day’s entries will be grouped together in alternating colors with the day of the week at the far left.

The times and the memo field are editable, just click on them to put a cursor in them. You are encouraged to use the memo field for noting why edits have been made to time entries, working at a branch you normally aren’t assigned to, etc. Any edit to a time will cause that entry to be marked “UNAPPROVED” until a manager signs off on the change. Be sure to provide sufficient explanation in the memo field to avoid your manager having to get in contact with you, especially near the end of a pay period.

If you edit the date on an entry, as soon as you hit RETURN or TAB the system will re-sort the display, moving the entry to it’s new day. To get a new entry use PUNCH (while off the clock) to add a line then edit as needed. There is NO way to remove an entry.

A detailed explanation of every item in an entry.  Numbers correlate to the image below.

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1. This indicates the day of the week. Along with the alternating colors this helps you see which entries are part of the same day and makes sure you haven’t forgotten to enter a day.
2. Each line makes up one span of time worked. This is the time you clocked in. Like all date/time notation in this program it is shown in yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm format.
3. This is when you clocked out for lunch. This example shows a case where someone forgot to clock out for lunch and caught it when they returned.
4. This is an approval mark. This indicates the time above wasn’t automatically punched and was approved, in this case by user jmorris.
5. This mark indicates the entry above has not been approved yet. You should make sure the memo field (9) is filled in with an explanation for why you didn’t clock out when you left work and had to manually correct this entry.
6. This is what you will see when you punch the clock normally.
7. This mark indicates the entry isn’t completed yet because you are currently clocked in and working.
8. This displays the time worked for the entry in hours and minutes. Note that the incomplete entry below also displays a time. It is calculated by using the current time in place of the empty clocked out field.
9. This area is a freeform memo field. While it won’t stop you from typing, the printed reports clip this at about 80 characters so avoid putting too much here; use the card memo field at the top of the timecard for longer remarks. Besides notes about entry errors, use this field to note things like working at a remote location, expenses associated with this work period, etc.

The Punch Bar represents the time clock in a traditional paper system. It shows the current time and has the “Punch” that stamps that time onto your ‘timecard’ represented by the goldenrod area above it.

Detailed explanation of every item on the Punch Bar.

1. Help button. Clicking it gets the Top level help for the timeclock display.
2. Thus number displays the total accumulated time on the current card. If you are currently clocked in it displays the time you would have if you clocked out at the time the card’s display was last refreshed. I.e. after any change the number will update but it won’t if you simply leave the card displayed for several minutes. You shouldn’t leave a card displayed longer than required anyway.
3. This is the time the clock will ‘punch’ when you click the button (4). When you first display a card it will have the current time prefilled. You can edit the time before you click Punch but see below for the rules.
4. This is the only control you should use 90% of the time. It ‘punches’ the timeclock, either creating a new line entry if you are coming in or inserting the out time if you are currently on the clock.

 

You can edit the time shown beside the punch within fairly wide boundaries. However most edits will mark the punch as “UNAPPROVED” thus requiring a manager to sign off on the change.

The metaphor used is a traditional timecard and timeclock. The goldenrod area represents your timecard and the green area the timeclock with the official ‘company time’ displayed in (3) by default. If you just PUNCH the card it is assumed to be correct and will normally go straight through to payroll. If you forget to clock in or out you would be forced to manually write the time on the card. This typically requires a supervisor to initial the entry.

This separation between machine “Punched” entries and handwritten entries or corrections is also why any entries changed through a manual edit (clicking a time in the main card area) requires management approval.

You can adjust the time backwards by up to five (5) minutes from the time you first displayed your timecard and it will be considered to have been STAMPED. You can adjust the time forward (typically when clocking out) by up to five minutes ahead of the current time regardless of when you launched the program or what time is displayed in (3). This should cover most typical needs.

If you attempt to clock out more than seven (7) hours after you clocked in the entry will be flagged as “UNAPPROVED” due to work rules that normally prohibit an employee from working six (6) hours straight without a lunch break.

Any attempt to create a single entry spanning more than a twenty-four (24) day will be rejected as that is just too improbable. Besides, it would mess up the reports.

Any attempt to enter a time more than thirty (30) days in the past or future will be rejected outright.

When you close the card it will be checked for additional errors and you will be required to correct them before being allowed to save the card. You can’t have two entries that cover some or all of the same time for example. We aren’t going to pay you twice for the same work; whodaya think we are, the gubbermint? 😉