Time and Attendance Timeclock Systems : Glossary

1.   1. Annualised Hours
2.   2. Attendance Tracking
3.   3. Backup
4.   4. Badge
5.   5. Barcode
6.   6. Clock Card
7.   7. Compressed Hours
8.   8. Compensation Time
9.   9. Core Hours
10. 10. Electromechanical Time Clock
11. 11. Flexible Working
12. 12. Flexitime
13. 13. Grace Period
14. 14. Magstripe (Magnetic stripe)
15. 15. Midnight Crossover
16. 16. Night Shift
17. 17. Optical Reader
18. 18. Print Head
19. 19. Proximity Card
20. 20. Ribbon
21. 21. (Time) Rounding Rules
22. 22. RS232C
23. 23. Smart Card
24. 24. TCP/IP
25. 25. Time Card
26. 26. Time off in lieu (TOIL)
27. 27. Timesheets
28. 28. Wireless
29. 29. Work-life balance
30. 30. Work shifts

1. Annualised Hours

Contractual working hours expressed as the total number of hours to be worked per year, often allowing flexible working patterns throughout the year.

2. Attendance Tracking

A method of tracking hours worked by an Employee to establish gross pay, or entitlement to Flexitime working time benefits.

3. Backup

Making copies of data so that these may be used to restore the original information in the event of data loss. These copies are called "backups." Backups are useful for two main purposes:
   (1) Restore a state following a major system error, called disaster recovery
   (2) Restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted.
Many programs and computers are capable of scheduling backup events.

4. Badge

An ID-Card, or ID-Badge, that is used to "clock-on" to a Timeclock system. The cards and the contents of the bar-code or magnetic strip were defined by the American Banking Association. A standard credit card size and material is normal for this type of ID-Card, making it robust and convenient to carry.

5. Barcode

A series of varying thickness printed bars that represent digital characters when read by an optical reader. These readers provide very fast data input of long strings of numbers and are popular in the retail trade, shipping and logistics industries. Popular barcode versions are "3 of 9" (Code 39) and "2 of 5". Barcode ID-Badges are very secure and robust, particularly when compared to magnetic stripe badges.

6. Clock Card

A type of cardboard card inserted into an electromechanical timeclock. Must be replaced when all blank spaces are printed over. Data must then be manually tabulated to obtain timeclock totals. See Electromechanical Time Clock.

7. Compressed Hours

An Employee may work contractual hours over fewer days, e.g. over 4 days instead of 5 days per week.

8. Compensation Time

Time off to compensate for extra hours worked instead of overtime payment. Also known as time off in lieu.

9. Core Hours

Hours during which Flexitime Employees must be available at work each day, which are typically 10am to 4pm.

10. Electromechanical Timeclock

Invented by Willard Bundy in 1888, a traditional type of time recorder that stamps or prints the time and date onto a clock card. See Time Card. This type of timeclock requires regular maintenance and consumables.

11. Flexible Working

Any form of alternative working pattern that is negotiable between the Employer and Employee. Flexible working allows Employees to meet personal commitments (such as taking children to school) and aspirations (studying for a degree) and whilst meeting business requirements.

12. Flexitime

A system permitting flexibility of working hours at the beginning or end of the day. Employees must work the Core Hours set by the Employer and complete an agreed total number of hours in an accounting period, typically a calendar month. Debit or credit hours are the variance between actual hours worked and the accounting period target. In most cases debit or credit hours are usually carried over from one accounting period to the next.

13. Grace Period

The start point of time rounding that can be adjusted by allowing a short grace period. e.g. If a 3 minute grace is applied, the Employee will not be penalised until arriving three minutes and one second late.

14. Magstripe (Magnetic stripe)

Used to encode data information, such as badge number and name. A badge that has a magnetic stripe can have its data information erased if it is stored very close to strong radio-frequencies, such as those generated by a mobile phone.

15. Midnight Crossover

A period of work in which an Employee is present on two calendar dates. Clock-in time is the first day, and the following clock-out is on the second day. Time attendance software systems must have a special handling routine to be able to calculate worked time that involves a Midnight Crossover. Many software systems require a manual adjustment for these time stamp events. TIMY-Soft can handle these events automatically or manually.

16. Night Shift

A work pattern that starts in late evening, runs though midnight and finishes the following morning.

17. Optical Reader

A robust type of biometric or badge reader that typically uses infra-red light to read the details of a fingerprint or a barcoded badge.

18. Print Head

Used in a traditional electromechanical timeclock. It is part of the mechanical process, with an inked ribbon, of printing time and date onto a paper time card. This is an expensive consumable and requires regular replacement.

19. Proximity Card

Also known as 'contact-less'. The use of radio frequencies to interrogate the information held on the card or badge allows this card technology to avoid physical contact with the card reader. However, the technology is much more expensive compared to magstripe or barcode.

20. Ribbon

Found in an electromechanical timeclock. It is part of the printing mechanism for placing time and date stamps onto a time card. The ribbon is a consumable and requires frequent replacement for use with this type of timeclock.

21. (Time) Rounding Rules

Also known as rounding or quartering. This is a common means of penalising Employees if they do not arrive on time (e.g. losing 15 minutes). Rounding can be used in conjunction with Grace Period, which itself may typically be set from 1 to 3 minutes.

22. RS232C

A communications protocol, dating from 1969, that limited the cable length to 50 feet at a maximum data rate of 20Kbps in the original specification. The use of UTP CAT-5 cable permits a maximum distance of 147 feet at a data rate of 1.5Mbps. Lower data rates may permit the use of longer cable lengths.

23. Smart Card

Also known as a 'chip card' or 'IC-card'. Expensive and often results in slower verification of information held on the card, compared to barcode and magstripe cards.

24. TCP/IP

Transport Control Protocol / Internet Protocol suite, created in 1983. A networking protocol that allows devices to communicate using a popular network infrastructure. Fast, efficient and reasonably reliable.

25. Time Card

Usually drom cardboard or stiffened paper, a time card is inserted into an electromechanical timestamp machine (sometimes known as a Bundy clock) when starting and ending a work period. Time is 'punched in' and its data must then be collated and keyed into a payroll system.

26. Time off in lieu (TOIL)

Employees take time off as compensation for hours that they have worked in excess of their contractual hours. 10 hours additional work would normally equate to 10 hours 'time off in lieu' and the Employee would not receive overtime pay.

27. Timesheets

Originally developed for an employer to determine payroll costs. Timesheets record the start and end of tasks, or the duration of worked hours. This information is used for payroll, client billing, project costing, estimation, time tracking and time management.

28. Wireless

Generically, an inter-connectivity method that allows wire-free communications between devices. Radio-frequency wireless protocols are always limited by distance, physical surrounding and electrical interference.

29. Work-life balance

Having a measure of control over when, where and how you work and being able to enjoy an optimal quality of life. Work-life balance is achieved when an individual's right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society.

30. Work shifts

Providing a predictable work pattern over defined calendar periods; distinctive by a relatively rigid structure.