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A
Absence management
Recording and handling every kind of time away from work, from sickness and unpaid leave to holiday, so patterns can be seen, policies are applied the same way to everyone and cover can be planned.
Why it matters: When absence lives in emails and spreadsheets, nobody sees a pattern until it has already cost money.
In ClockRite Cloud: ClockRite Cloud keeps holiday, sickness and unpaid leave on each employee’s record, with requests and approvals in one queue. Absence and leave →
Anomaly
Also called an exception
A clocking that does not fit what was expected, such as a missed clock out, a late start, a clocking on a day off or a duplicate.
Why it matters: Every anomaly left unchecked is a pay error waiting to happen, so they are best fixed before the timesheet goes to payroll.
In ClockRite Cloud: Late starts and missed clockings are flagged against each person’s shift, and the missing time can be added before the week is approved. Time tracking →
API
Application programming interface
A set of rules that lets two pieces of software swap data directly. A REST API does it over the web with standard HTTPS requests, so it works with almost any programming language.
Why it matters: Payroll, HR and in-house systems can pull hours and push employee details without anyone exporting and importing files.
In ClockRite Cloud: The ClockRite Cloud REST API can upload and download employees, clocking records and schedules, and download timesheets, with access secured by a unique key. Integrations →
B
Biometric template
The stored version of a fingerprint or face that a terminal uses to recognise someone. It is a set of measurements held as numbers, not a photograph, and each new scan is compared against it.
Why it matters: Biometric data used to identify people is special category data under UK GDPR. Employers need a clear reason to use it, should explain to staff how it is handled and should usually offer another way to clock in, such as a card.
In ClockRite Cloud: ClockRite terminals offer facial recognition, fingerprint and multi-factor clocking, alongside RFID cards and fobs and the mobile app. Ways to clock in →
Bradford Factor
Also called the Bradford score
A score that weights frequent short absences far more heavily than one long absence. It is worked out as S² × D, where S is the number of separate absences in the period (usually 52 weeks) and D is the total days absent. Three absences adding up to six days score 3 × 3 × 6 = 54.
Why it matters: It gives managers a consistent point to start a conversation, though it shows the pattern of absence, never the reason for it.
In ClockRite Cloud: ClockRite Cloud shows each employee’s Bradford score for the last 52 weeks on their profile and in the leave schedule. Bradford Factor guide and calculator →
Buddy punching
Also called buddy clocking
One employee clocking in or out for a colleague who is late, absent or leaving early, so the missing person is paid for time they did not work.
Why it matters: It rarely shows up on a timesheet, and on busy shift-based sites small amounts add up over a year.
In ClockRite Cloud: With facial recognition or fingerprint clocking nobody can clock in for a colleague, and every phone clocking keeps its location. Time tracking →
C
Clocking in
Also called clocking on or punching in
Recording the moment someone starts work, and clocking out when they finish. It once meant stamping a card in a clock machine. Today it is usually a face, fingerprint, card or fob at a terminal, or an app on the person’s phone.
Why it matters: Every hour you pay starts with a clocking, so the method decides how accurate and trustworthy your hours are.
In ClockRite Cloud: There are five ways to clock in to ClockRite Cloud, plus a web browser, all feeding one account. Terminals keep working offline and send their clockings once the connection is back. Time tracking →
F
Fire roll call
Also called an evacuation roll call
Checking that everyone who was on site when the alarm sounded has reached the assembly point. A digital roll call builds the list from who is clocked in and which visitors are signed in, instead of a paper register.
Why it matters: Marshals need to know quickly who may still be inside, and a list printed that morning is already out of date.
In ClockRite Cloud: Fire Roll Call is free with every ClockRite Cloud system. Marshals open a live list of staff and visitors on site and mark people safe, across multiple sites. Fire roll call →
Flexitime
Also called flexi
An arrangement that lets staff choose their start and finish times within limits, usually around core hours when everyone must be at work, as long as they work their contracted hours over a set period. Hours worked over or under build up as a flexi balance.
Why it matters: Flexitime only feels fair when the employee and the manager can both see the same, up-to-date balance.
G
Geofencing
A virtual boundary drawn on a map around a place such as a site, a depot or a client’s premises. A phone app checks whether it is inside the boundary before it lets someone clock in.
Why it matters: It stops people clocking in from home or from down the road, without fixing hardware at every location.
In ClockRite Cloud: Geofencing sets the areas where staff can clock in from the ClockRite app, and the location is kept with every phone clocking. Time tracking →
GPS clocking
Also called mobile or location clocking
Clocking in on a phone app that records where the phone was at the time. It suits people who start work away from a fixed site, such as engineers, carers, drivers and construction teams.
Why it matters: Knowing where someone clocked in answers questions the time alone cannot.
In ClockRite Cloud: Mobile clocking costs nothing extra with ClockRite Cloud, and each phone clocking keeps its location and a map pin. Time tracking →
H
Holiday entitlement
Also called annual leave
The paid time off an employee can take in a leave year. Most workers in Great Britain are entitled to 5.6 weeks a year, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week, and employers can include bank holidays in it. Part-time staff get a pro rata share, and since April 2024 irregular-hours and part-year workers build it up at 12.07% of the hours they work.
Why it matters: Wrong balances lead to disputes, underpaid holiday or a rush of leave at the end of the year.
In ClockRite Cloud: Allowances can be held in days or hours and update as leave is approved and taken, with a starter allowance for new joiners. Absence and leave →
L
Labour cost
What it costs to have people at work: pay for basic hours and overtime, premiums for nights or weekends, and employer costs such as National Insurance and pension contributions. For many businesses it is one of the biggest costs to manage week to week.
Why it matters: Planning the cost before the week begins is easier than explaining an overspend after payday.
In ClockRite Cloud: The Schedule Planner shows each person’s shift hours and labour cost as you build the rota, with unpaid breaks left out. Scheduling →
Lateness
Also called tardiness
Starting work after the scheduled start time. Most systems compare each clocking with the person’s shift, often with a short grace period before a clocking counts as late.
Why it matters: Occasional lateness is normal. Repeated lateness affects cover, and handling it fairly needs records rather than impressions.
In ClockRite Cloud: The dashboard marks each clocking on time or late against the shift, and a daily Tardy Report can be emailed at the time you choose. Time tracking →
M
Muster point
Also called an assembly point
The agreed safe place where everyone gathers after leaving a building in an emergency, so fire marshals can check who is accounted for. Larger sites often have more than one.
Why it matters: A roll call only works if everyone knows where to go and the marshal has the list with them when they get there.
In ClockRite Cloud: Marshals open the ClockRite Cloud roll call at the muster point and mark people safe as they arrive, with visitors listed beside staff. Fire roll call →
O
Overtime
Time worked beyond an employee’s normal or contracted hours. There is no legal right to extra pay for it, so the rate and when it starts are set by the contract, for example after a number of hours a day or a week. Average pay across all hours worked must not fall below the National Minimum Wage.
Why it matters: Worked out by hand, overtime is one of the easiest places for pay errors to creep in.
In ClockRite Cloud: Daily or weekly overtime is set on each shift and worked out from the clockings, and overtime can be rounded on its own. Time tracking →
P
Payroll integration
Moving approved hours, overtime, holiday and absence from time and attendance software into payroll without typing them in again. It can be a direct link between the two systems or an export file in the format the payroll software expects.
Why it matters: Re-keying hours is slow, and every number typed by hand is another chance to get someone’s pay wrong.
In ClockRite Cloud: Approved hours export for Sage Payroll Line 50, split into your pay codes, with CSV export for other payroll software and direct integration with People HR and Sage HR. Integrations →
R
Return to work interview
A short meeting between a manager and an employee when they come back from sickness absence. It checks they are well enough to work, confirms the dates and the reason, and asks whether any support or changes would help.
Why it matters: Held every time, it shows staff that absence is noticed and that help is there, and it often brings problems to light early.
RFID clocking
Also called proximity, card or fob clocking
Clocking in by holding a card or key fob near a reader. A chip in the card carries a unique number that the reader picks up by radio, so nothing has to touch.
Why it matters: It is quick at busy shift changes and stores no biometric data, but a card can be lent to someone else in a way a face or fingerprint cannot.
In ClockRite Cloud: RFID card and fob clocking is one of the five ways to clock in to ClockRite Cloud, so sites can mix it with other methods. Time tracking →
Rota
Also called a schedule or shift plan
The plan of who works which shift on which day, for a week or longer. It covers start and finish times, breaks, locations or departments, and who is on leave.
Why it matters: A rota checked against real clockings shows where the plan and the day did not match, before payroll does.
In ClockRite Cloud: Build rotas from week templates, rotate teams automatically with Auto Switch and see hours and labour cost as you plan. Staff see their own schedule on their phone. Scheduling →
Rounding rules
Settings that move clock times to a block of minutes, such as the nearest 5 or 15, before hours are worked out. A grace period lets a clocking a few minutes either side of the shift start count as on time.
Why it matters: Rounding should be applied the same way to everyone and must not keep working against staff, or people can end up underpaid.
In ClockRite Cloud: Choose the rounding direction and block for each shift, add a grace period that rounds the other way, and round overtime on its own. Time tracking →
S
Self-service portal
Also called employee self-service
The part of a workforce system that employees use themselves, usually on their phone, to see their hours, shifts and holiday balance and to ask for time off.
Why it matters: Every question staff can answer for themselves is one less for a manager, HR or payroll.
In ClockRite Cloud: Staff use the ClockRite web app on their phone to request holiday, check their balance and see their own schedule and clock records. Absence and leave →
Shift pattern
A set of working times that repeats, such as earlies, lates and nights, or four on and four off. It holds the start and finish times and often the rules for breaks and overtime, so hours are worked out the same way every time.
Why it matters: Hours can only be worked out correctly when each person is on the right pattern.
In ClockRite Cloud: Each shift carries its own rules for rounding, up to three break deductions and overtime, and night shifts that run past midnight stay on one timesheet. Shift rules →
T
Time and attendance
Often shortened to T&A
Recording when people work and when they are away: clocking in and out, hours, breaks, overtime, holiday and absence. The records are used to pay people correctly and to see who is at work.
Why it matters: It is the base that payroll, rotas, absence records and fire safety all depend on.
In ClockRite Cloud: ClockRite has helped UK businesses with time and attendance since 1999. Time tracking →
Timesheet
A record of the hours an employee worked over a period, usually a week, with breaks, overtime and any absence. Paper timesheets are filled in by hand. Digital ones are built from the clockings.
Why it matters: The timesheet is what payroll pays from, so it needs checking and approving before payday.
In ClockRite Cloud: ClockRite Cloud has 5+ timesheet designs, from a Standard timesheet that needs no setup to a shift pattern timesheet that is ready to approve and export for payroll. Time tracking →
TOIL
Time off in lieu
Paid time off given instead of overtime pay for extra hours worked. Someone who stays two hours late might take two hours off later, or more if the policy gives a higher rate.
Why it matters: TOIL only works when the hours earned and the hours taken are tracked against each other, so balances do not quietly grow or disappear.
V
Visitor management
Recording who comes on site, who they are seeing, when they arrive and when they leave. A digital system replaces the paper signing-in book with a kiosk, which also keeps each visitor’s details private from the next.
Why it matters: You can see who is on site at any moment, including in an emergency, and search past visits for an audit.
In ClockRite Cloud: The Visitor Management module adds a kiosk on any tablet or laptop. Hosts are emailed when their visitor arrives, and visitors accept your site rules and stay on the fire roll call until they check out. Visitor management →
W
Workforce management
Often shortened to WFM
The wider set of tools for planning, recording and managing people’s working time, built on time and attendance. It usually adds scheduling, absence and leave, HR records, safety tools such as fire roll call, and reporting, all from one record for each employee.
Why it matters: When every part shares one record, details are typed once and everyone works from the same facts.
In ClockRite Cloud: ClockRite Cloud brings time tracking, scheduling, absence and leave, HR records, fire roll call and visitor management together in one system. Workforce management →
Working Time Regulations
The UK rules that limit working hours and set minimum rest and holiday. They include a limit of 48 hours a week on average, usually over 17 weeks, unless the worker opts out; 11 hours’ rest between working days; a 20-minute break when working more than 6 hours; and 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year. Workers under 18 have tighter limits.
Why it matters: Employers must keep records that show the limits are met and keep them for two years, so accurate working time records matter.
In ClockRite Cloud: ClockRite Cloud keeps every clocking and timesheet, and the Schedule Planner checks scheduled hours against contracted hours. Working hours on GOV.UK →
Definitions are general guidance, not legal advice. For the law on working time, holiday and data protection, check GOV.UK, Acas or the ICO, or speak to an employment law adviser.
In ClockRite Cloud
See these terms working in one system
Clocking, rotas, leave, roll call and payroll exports share one record for each employee in ClockRite Cloud. Pick the part you want to know more about.
Time tracking
Five ways to clock in, shift rules for rounding, breaks and overtime, and timesheets ready for payroll.
Scheduling
Rotas from week templates, Auto Switch rotations and labour cost while you plan.
Absence and leave
Holiday requests from a phone, allowances in days or hours, and sickness on the same record.
Bradford Factor
How the score works, what a good or bad score looks like, and a calculator.
Fire roll call
A live list of staff and visitors for marshals at the muster point, free with every system.
Visitor management
A kiosk on any tablet or laptop, host emails, site rules and visitors on the roll call.
Integrations
People HR, Sage HR, exports for Sage Payroll Line 50 and CSV, and a REST API.
Why ClockRite
Plain answers from people who know the job
More than 5,000 businesses trust ClockRite, and we have helped UK businesses with time and attendance since 1999. If a term on this page matters to your business, our UK-based support team can show you how it works in ClockRite Cloud.
5,000+
Businesses trust ClockRite
55+ years
Combined experience of our current team
Since 1999
Helping UK businesses with time and attendance
UK based
Support team and UK hosted software
4.8
Average rating on Google reviews
5 ways
To clock in, all feeding one ClockRite Cloud account
FAQs
Glossary questions
Can’t see yours? Call our sales team on 01246 948451 or email [email protected].
What is the difference between time and attendance and workforce management?
Time and attendance records when people work and when they are away. Workforce management builds on it with scheduling, absence and leave, HR records, safety tools such as fire roll call, and reporting. ClockRite Cloud covers both in one system: see workforce management.
What is the difference between overtime and TOIL?
Both cover hours worked beyond the normal or contracted hours. Overtime is paid, often at a higher rate. TOIL (time off in lieu) gives paid time off instead of extra pay. Your contracts or policy should say which applies and how much time each extra hour earns.
Is biometric clocking legal in the UK?
Yes, as long as it is handled properly. Fingerprints and faces used to identify people are special category data under UK GDPR, so employers need a clear reason to use them, should tell staff how the data is handled and should usually offer another way to clock in, such as a card or fob. The ICO has guidance on biometric data. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
How long do working time records have to be kept?
Records that show the Working Time Regulations limits are being met must be kept for two years. Payroll records, such as pay and deductions, must be kept for at least three years from the end of the tax year they relate to. Check GOV.UK for the current rules.
What is the difference between GPS clocking and geofencing?
GPS clocking records where a phone was when someone clocked in. Geofencing goes a step further and only allows a phone clocking inside an area you set, such as a site. ClockRite Cloud does both: see time tracking.
Can ClockRite Cloud handle all of this in one system?
Yes. ClockRite Cloud brings clocking, timesheets, rotas, holiday and absence, Bradford scores, HR records, fire roll call and visitor management together, and exports hours for payroll. See pricing or book a demo.