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Clocking in

Geofenced clock-in

How staff clock in from their own phone with a one-off GPS check, why it stops buddy-punching, and the truth about what is and is not tracked.

Staff clock in from their own phone. The moment they slide to clock in, WagePilot reads their GPS location once to confirm they are inside the site — then it stops looking. That single check is what ties "I started my shift" to "I am actually here", which is how it removes buddy-punching (one person clocking in for another).

A clock-in inside the geofence is confirmed; one from down the road is flagged for the manager. The radius is yours to set per site.

What happens at the moment of clock-in

  1. 1

    Staff slides to clock in

    On the slide-to-clock control on their phone home screen.

  2. 2

    One GPS reading

    The phone reports its location once (with a short timeout), then location access is done. The reading is stamped on the clock-in for the record.

  3. 3

    Inside the circle?

    If they are within the geofence radius you set, the clock-in is confirmed and the live earnings gauge starts.

  4. 4

    Outside the circle?

    They are still clocked in, but the entry is flagged as outside the radius — the app tells them "your manager can see this", and the flag shows on the timesheet so nothing is silently blocked mid-shift.

  5. 5

    No signal, or permission refused?

    With no fix available the entry is recorded as a manual clock-in (no location proof). The shift still starts: nobody is ever left unable to begin work because a phone could not see the sky.

Setting the geofence

Each site has its own geofence — a pin on a map and a radius. You set it in Locations: search the address, fine-tune the pin, and widen or tighten the circle. A new site starts at a 100m radius. A tight radius is stricter; a wider one is more forgiving for big sites, car parks and weak GPS. See Locations & geofences.

When GPS is not reliable

Basements, thick-walled pubs and rural sites can have poor GPS. For those, pair clock-in with a printed QR code by the till, so there is always an obvious way to start a shift when the slide-to-clock screen is struggling. See QR clock-in. You choose which methods are allowed in Clock-in rules.

Common questions

How does the geofenced clock-in work — are you tracking staff all day?
No. WagePilot checks location only at the moment someone clocks in or out, never continuously. If they are inside the site’s geofence the clock-in is confirmed; if they are outside it, the shift still starts but the entry is flagged for the manager. Tying clock-in to being on-site is how it stops buddy-punching. It is built for UK GDPR with data minimisation from day one.
What if a staff member’s phone has no GPS signal?
The shift still starts. With no fix available the clock-in is recorded as manual, meaning no location proof. For sites where signal is routinely poor, add a printed QR code by the till so there is always an obvious way to start a shift. A QR punch still asks the phone for its position and is geofenced whenever the phone gives one, so it is a dependable route rather than a way around the check. You enable QR (and optionally manual) alongside GPS in Clock-in rules.