GPS attendance for field employees: a practical guide for Indian businesses

Field employees rarely start the day at the office. A salesman may go straight to the first market, a technician to the first customer. That is why the paper register and the “good morning, reached” WhatsApp message are the most common attendance systems for field teams — and the least reliable.

What GPS attendance actually records

With GPS attendance the employee taps Start day on the phone. The app records:

• the time,
• the GPS position and its accuracy,
• optionally a selfie,
• and whether the employee is inside the attendance location (office, depot or client site) if you set one.

At the end of the day End day records the same again. Worked hours, late marks and half days are calculated from these two points and the employee’s shift.

Rules worth switching on

1. Shift and grace time. Set the work start time and a grace period. Anyone starting after it is marked late automatically.
2. Half day below N hours. If someone works less than, say, 4 hours, the day is a half day.
3. Selfie at Start day. Stops proxy attendance where one person marks for another. Use it where it matters (sites, security) rather than for everyone.
4. Attendance location. Flag shows you who started outside the site; block does not allow it at all. Start with flag, move to block where needed.
5. Auto-close forgotten days. If someone forgets End day, the day is closed at their last GPS point at night instead of showing 18 hours.

Rolling it out fairly

• Tell people what is tracked and when. In FieldTrack, location is recorded only between Start day and End day, and the phone shows a notification while tracking is on.
• Start with one team for two weeks. Fix places, shifts and week offs before rolling out to everyone.
• Use the data for help, not only for penalties. Route analysis often shows that a beat is simply too long.

From attendance to payroll

At month end, the attendance register shows each day as present, late, half day, absent, leave, holiday or week off, with payable days — ready to export to Excel for payroll.

Want to see it with your own team? Book a demo or start free.