Attendance management for architecture and interior firms

Flexible hours with a core window

Most studios do not need a strict 9:30 start. A flexible shift with core hours of 11 am to 5 pm and a minimum of eight working hours lets a designer who stayed until midnight come in at noon without a late mark, while client meetings and design reviews still happen when everyone is in. Draughtspersons and admin staff, whose work is steadier, can stay on a fixed 10 to 7 shift. Each person sees the studio's attendance rules written in plain sentences on their own attendance page, so nobody has to guess what counts as late.

Studio punches from the office network

In a studio, the simplest punch is from the browser at the designer's own desk. Allow web punches only from the studio's office network, so a punch from home does not pass for a studio day. Staff who work from home on agreed days apply for work from home, within a monthly limit such as four days, and their manager approves. The mobile app stays available for days that begin at a site or a vendor.

Site visits, vendor days and municipal offices

An interior designer checking tile samples at a market, an architect waiting at the municipal corporation for a plan approval, or a site coordinator at a client's flat is working away from the studio. They raise an on duty request for the day or part of it, noting the client or project. Once the project architect approves, followed by HR, the day is counted as worked. For site coordinators who are at client sites every day, a mobile punch that records location is simpler than daily requests.

Late nights and month end

Late punches matter in a studio because they are the evidence for comp-off. Ask designers to punch out when they actually leave, even at 1 am. If Priya works from 10:30 am to 1:30 am before a submission, her day log shows 15 gross hours and 14 effective hours after an hour of breaks, six more than her eight-hour minimum. Missed punch-outs are common after late nights; the missed punch-out alert reminds people an hour after shift end, and a forgot check-out correction fixes the rest. Then the office manager closes the month for payroll.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. Create a flexible shift with core hours of 11 am to 5 pm and an eight-hour minimum for designers, and a fixed 10 to 7 shift for draughtspersons and admin.
2. In Capture controls, add the studio's office network so web punches count only from the studio, and allow mobile punches for site coordinators.
3. Set the monthly WFH limit in the Work terms policy, and allow on duty requests for site, vendor and municipal office visits.
4. Pick the Lenient preset under Attendance rules as a base, then test it against the previous month with the dry run before it goes live.
5. Keep missed punch-out alerts on, so designers who leave late are reminded to punch out.
6. At month end, clear pending corrections and run month close to freeze attendance for payroll.

Read more about attendance in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions