Mobile attendance with location

How it works

1. The employee opens the ZeniaHR app and taps Punch. The app sends the phone's location with the punch.
2. If the app location rule is on, ZeniaHR checks that the phone is inside a check-in spot for the person's branch, or a spot that covers every branch.
3. Outside the spot, the punch is refused with how far the person is from the nearest spot and the radius allowed.
4. If the phone sends no location, the app asks the person to turn on location for the ZeniaHR app.
5. At a kiosk, the employee scans the QR code on the tablet or types its short code, and the punch is saved with the source kiosk.
6. The punch lands in the same day record as web and machine punches, and a night-shift punch after midnight goes to the day the shift started.

What you can set

• Location rule for app punches: the phone must be inside a check-in spot, or no location check.
• Check-in spots: tied to one branch, or covering every branch.
• Kiosk punching: on or off, and whether kiosk punches also need the phone inside the spot.
• Punch only from approved phones: yes or no.
• Punch types in the app: in, break start, break end and out.
• Web punches follow their own rules for office networks and browser location.

Location at the punch, not tracking

A location check at the moment of punching answers one question: was the person where they should be when they started work? It does not follow them afterwards. ZeniaHR reads the location once per punch, stores it with the punch, and compares it with the check-in spots only when your rule asks for it. Nothing is read between punches and there is no map of where people went, which is also what you should tell employees when you switch the rule on.

Worked example: store staff across three Chennai outlets

A Chennai retail chain has three outlets, each set up as a branch with its own check-in spot. Its 42 store staff punch in on the app with the location rule on. At 9:52 am, cashier Pavithra at the T. Nagar store punches in from the shop floor, and the punch is accepted inside the T. Nagar spot. At 10:05 am, sales associate Vignesh tries to punch in from the bus stop near the Velachery outlet and is told he is 350 m from the store, beyond the radius it allows.

He walks in and punches again at 10:09 am, and this time the punch goes through. The warehouse behind the Velachery store has a kiosk tablet at its gate, and loaders punch by scanning its code. All these punches, from phones and from the kiosk, land in the same day records that feed the live board and payroll.

Rolling out app punching

App punching goes smoothly when employees know what is checked and why, and when HR has thought about the awkward cases before the first morning, such as weak signal in a basement or staff who work across two branches. A week of watching refused punches usually shows what to adjust.

• Create a check-in spot for every branch before turning on the location rule; with no spot for a branch, nothing is checked there.
• Ask staff to allow location for the ZeniaHR app once, so punches do not stall at the door.
• Place spots so the radius covers the real entrance, including any basement or back gate.
• Keep a kiosk for large gates where many people arrive at the same time.

Frequently asked questions