Unless your first job was at a very small business, you probably had to clock in and out at the beginning of your shift and before and after breaks using an old-fashioned time clock. It would stamp the time in blue or purple ink that looked like the ink used on the mimeographed worksheets you used to have in elementary school.
If you are younger than Generation X, then your first job at a restaurant or a retail store may have had a time clock built into the computer software at work. In fact, starting a job where you are not beholden to a time clock is a rite of passage. It was probably a relief to start work in a managerial position, where you would get the same pay for a day when you work eight hours and twenty minutes as one where you worked seven hours and fifty minutes, and no one scolded you about your lunch break being too long if it was 31 minutes or too short if it was 26 minutes.
Today, state of the art time and attendance software is the best choice for keeping track of employee clock in and clock out times and so much more. It is suitable for businesses of any size and for employees who work on site as well as those who work remotely. Time and attendance software is much more than just an online time clock; it keeps track of more than just when employees begin and end work. Some software programs can even measure productivity by keeping track of the number of keystrokes.
In your clocking in and clocking out days, remember how mad your boss would get if you forgot to clock out at the end of work? That is because, with the old systems, it was really difficult to correct payroll if there were clocking out mistakes.
With the new software, it is easy. The person in charge of payroll can adjust the log in and log out times easily at any time. If your business has its own intranet, employees do not even need to worry about clocking in and clocking out at all. The software simply records them as clocked in when they start using the intranet and clocked out when they stop. Using online software to keep track of employee attendance is the best choice.