How to choose a time and attendance system: look at the record before the device

At a shift-based production plant in Gebze, the device at the gate logs every entry. At month end, accounting lays the device export, the leave messages from WhatsApp, and the paper overtime approvals side by side and chases the gaps one by one. The device did its job; the file is still incomplete. So start the choice from the month-end desk, not from a device catalogue. When is a missing record noticed today, who corrects it, which calendar holds leave, and how does data reach payroll. Once you write down those answers, what you need from a new system becomes clear.

• Card reader or ID card: simple to install and light on personal data; a card can be forgotten or swiped on someone else's behalf.
• PIN entry: removes the need to carry a card; because a PIN can be shared, the correction flow for missing and wrong records gets more use.
• Fingerprint and face recognition: these process biometric data; under the Personal Data Protection Board's principle decision, they are not considered proportionate for time tracking even with the employee's explicit consent.
• Mobile and location-based clock-in: suits building sites and field teams; location is personal data too and should be taken only for working time, with clear notice.

KVKK, Turkey's personal data protection law, treats biometric data as a special category of personal data. The Board's principle decision does not consider methods such as fingerprints and face recognition proportionate for time tracking, even with the employee's explicit consent. If there is a biometric device at your door today, plan the move to a method such as a card or PIN, and the privacy notice, with your legal adviser; that decision comes before the new software is chosen.

• Device fit: does the device at the door connect without being replaced; are the model and protocol verified before purchase.
• Shift rules: are night shifts, rotating shifts, and weekend work read correctly.
• Missing records: is a forgotten clock-in or clock-out queried the same day, or found at month end.
• Leave and overtime: do leave days, advances, and overtime approvals sit on the same calendar as attendance.
• Approval route: can the manager approve a request from the phone; is every approval logged with who and when.
• Payroll: how does an approved record reach payroll and accounting; does it need manual transfer.
• Access: who sees personal data, is every open logged; does the data live in the cloud or on your own server.
• Employee side: can staff see their own record and report a missing clock-in themselves.

Most of these items do not show up in a sales presentation. In the demo, pick one person from your own staff list, enter a day from last month with a missing record, and watch whose phone the correction reaches, and when.

Device and software sit on separate rows because they usually come from different sellers and age separately. Have each row priced on its own in the offer; being able to change the software without replacing the device at the door makes the next choice easier too. Payroll export is asked about with the same split: the format in which the software hands over data should be clear regardless of the brand of the device at the door.

The setups in the table follow from how the workplace runs. A single office with fixed hours needs a card reader and leave approval by phone; shift-based production needs shift and night overtime rules defined in the software, and building sites and field teams need mobile clock-in, with location read only during working hours. In multi-branch retail each branch manager sees only their own team; in mixed office and remote work, door and app records join on the same employee card.

In Corex360 HR the attendance device connects to the core and clock-ins land on the staff card. Leave, advance, and overtime requests run through an approval flow, and the approved record sits on the staff card. You can see the whole module on the attendance and HR module page.

Access is role-based: only those whose role allows it see payroll and personal data, and every open is logged. The installation runs on Corex360 Cloud or on your own server. The same clock-in data also feeds the Team pulse score with the weights you set; you can read how that works on the measure the team fairly page.

Salary calculation, official filings, and recruitment are not part of the module's definition.

If door security, turnstiles, or visitor access are your main concern, look first at an access control system built for that job. The system does not grant leave or cut scores on its own; approval and the reward rule stay with the manager. Ask the provider about your door device's model and communication protocol before signing; it is the most concrete step in the decision.

The riskiest moment in an attendance switch is mid-month. If half the period sits in the old system and half in the new one, two exports are merged by hand at month end, which is exactly the work you wanted to escape. Put the switch at the start of a new payroll period.

In the first period, keeping old and new records side by side and comparing a few people's days shows early whether the shift rules were written correctly. Brief staff before the switch as well: how to report a missing record, where to enter a leave request, and how their personal data is processed. The privacy notice is part of that briefing and should be ready before the switch.