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March 18

Employees and punching in at scheduled time

I am told that I have to punch within 7 minutes prior to my scheduled time, and punching out must occur within 7 minutes before or after my scheduled time, unless permitted otherwise by the supervisor. I always arrive several minutes before my scheduled time, so I always punch in at :53. But I have seen my co-worker who always punches in at :47, even though her schedule usually starts at the same time I do (I see her work hours on the schedule sheet). How does the time clock work? It seems that she's the only person who punches in at :47. Other people also punch in at :53, unless they are on lunch break. I know my co-worker doesn't have lunch break, because she's part-time. 50.4.236.254 (talk) 22:41, 18 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

This is a guess. It may go back the days of punch cards. Think if you punch in not more than 15 minutes before and not a second later than your start time, it will be OK. 7 minutes is about ½ way. Your supervisor may just repeating what they have been told without knowing why. If you belong to a Union ask them. If not, ask the Human Resources department (but they may not even know). In the days before computer technology, hundreds of punch-cards had to be processed and it may have removed the mental arithmetic to see if an employee punched-out and then back in again quickly afterward so as to game-the-system.--Aspro (talk) 00:02, 19 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It likely has something do to with how your employer tracks the number of hours you work and get paid for. This page [1] gives an example of if you work less than 7 minutes extra you don't get paid for that 15-minute increment. The exact rules will depend on the laws for your jurisdiction. RudolfRed (talk) 00:21, 19 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

There's always a chance that there's some special arrangement for your coworker. Nyttend (talk) 04:30, 19 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]