What Is a Geofence?
A geofence is a virtual boundary drawn around a real-world location. In attendance management, it defines the area within which an employee is allowed to clock in. If they attempt to clock in from outside that boundary, the system blocks the punch or flags it as a location exception.
Example: You have a construction project at a site in the east of the city. You set a geofence with a 150-meter radius around the site coordinates. An employee who tries to clock in from their apartment 3 kilometers away gets a "Location not permitted" message. Only when they're physically on site does the clock-in succeed.
How Radius Is Set in TimeClock 365
Admins configure geofences from the TimeClock 365 dashboard. For each job site or location, you:
- Search for the address or drop a pin on the map
- Set the radius in meters (typical range: 50–500 meters)
- Assign the geofence to one or more employee groups or individual employees
- Choose the enforcement mode: block clock-in outside zone, or allow but flag for review
GPS accuracy on modern smartphones is typically 5–15 meters in open areas. Set your radius generously enough to account for drift — 100 meters is a safe minimum for most outdoor sites. In dense urban areas with tall buildings (which deflect GPS signals), 150–200 meters is more reliable.
What Happens When an Employee Is Outside the Zone
Depending on your enforcement setting:
- Block mode: The app displays a message that the employee is not within an approved location. The clock-in does not register. The employee must physically travel to the site before punching in.
- Flag mode: The clock-in registers but is marked as a location exception in the dashboard. The manager sees it highlighted and can approve or reject it before payroll closes.
Flag mode is useful during rollout — you capture exceptions without blocking legitimate edge cases while you tune your radius settings.
Use Cases Across Industries
Construction: Job sites change with every project. Geofences can be created and updated in minutes as sites move. Crew supervisors no longer need to track who arrived when — the system does it automatically with location proof.
Home care and social services: Care workers visit multiple clients per day. Each client's address becomes a geofence. The system confirms the worker was physically present at each visit — critical for billing accuracy and regulatory compliance.
Delivery and logistics: Drivers clock in at the depot and clock out at delivery points. Geofencing confirms departure and arrival without manual sign-offs.
Retail with multiple branches: Employees are assigned to specific stores. Geofencing prevents clock-ins at the wrong branch or from the parking lot before the employee enters the building.
Privacy Considerations
Geofencing is not continuous tracking. TimeClock 365 captures a location coordinate at the moment of clock-in — it does not monitor employee movement throughout the day. Employees should be informed of this clearly, and it should be included in employment agreements.
The data captured: a single GPS coordinate per punch, stored securely under ISO 27001 controls. Employees can view their own location records in the employee portal at any time. This transparency is important — it converts geofencing from a surveillance concern into a straightforward record-keeping process.
Combining Geofence With Offline Mode
In remote areas with no mobile signal — mining sites, rural properties, basements — the app operates in offline mode. Clock-in data (including GPS) is stored locally and synced when the device reconnects. Geofence rules are enforced using the last-known location or cached site coordinates.
This means even in zero-signal environments, TimeClock 365 captures verifiable attendance data. The geofence check runs locally on the device, not against a remote server — so connectivity gaps don't create compliance gaps.
If you manage field teams and want to eliminate location-based time fraud without complicated hardware, geofencing in the mobile app is the most cost-effective solution available. See GPS and geofencing features →