Meet HydroApps Timeclock
Meet HydroApps Timeclock: From Schedule to Clock-In to Reporting
Scheduling tells you who is supposed to be working. Timekeeping tells you what actually happened. HydroApps Timeclock brings those two pieces together.
Built to work with Schedule Manager, Timeclock gives aquatic and recreation organizations a way to connect scheduled shifts with actual employee time, while giving managers tools to monitor staffing, manage exceptions, establish clock-in rules, track breaks, review timesheets, and prepare timekeeping data for payroll.
For employees, the experience stays simple. They can clock in and out, record breaks, and review their time through the same HydroApps web and mobile apps they already use.
For managers, there is much more happening behind the scenes.
Schedule → Clock → Monitor → Manage → Report
Timeclock extends Schedule Manager beyond planning the workday.
Schedule Manager answers: Who is supposed to be working?
Timeclock answers: Who is actually working?
And reporting helps answer: How closely did what happened match what we planned?
Together, they create a clearer picture of staffing from the original schedule through the final timekeeping record.
Clock In From the Web or Mobile App
Employees can access Timeclock through both the HydroApps web and mobile apps. When an employee has an assigned shift, they can select that shift and clock in. During the workday, employees can record breaks and return to work before clocking out at the end of their shift.
Organizations can also choose whether employees must have an assigned shift before clocking in. When unscheduled clock-ins are permitted, employees can select the appropriate pay code for the work they are performing.
This can be particularly useful in aquatic and recreation operations where one employee may work several different roles. Someone could lifeguard in the morning, teach swim lessons in the afternoon, and coach in the evening. Pay codes help associate their time with the appropriate type of work.
Employees can also review their own timekeeping history, including clock-ins, clock-outs, breaks, assigned or unassigned shifts, and applicable pay codes.
Need step-by-step instructions for employees?
See Who Is Actually Working
For managers, Timeclock starts with a dashboard designed to answer one of the most basic operational questions:
Who is here right now?
The Timeclock Dashboard organizes employees into three useful views:
Clocked In: Employees currently working.
On Break: Employees currently on break, including when their break began.
Scheduled: Employees with an upcoming or current scheduled shift who have not yet clocked in.
That makes it easier to identify a missed clock-in without waiting until someone reviews timesheets days later. Managers can also move to previous dates when they need to review or correct earlier activity.
Handle the Exceptions
Real operations rarely follow the schedule perfectly. Someone gets called in unexpectedly. An employee forgets to clock in. A supervisor needs someone to stay late. Someone forgets to return from a break. A staff member misses their clock-out completely. Timeclock gives administrators tools to manage those exceptions.
Managers can manually clock in scheduled employees, add unscheduled employees, correct clock-in and clock-out information, adjust break activity, and verify applicable pay codes.
HydroApps also prevents an employee from being clocked into multiple shifts simultaneously. If an employee has an existing open clock-in, that record must be resolved before another shift can begin.
Administrative changes are maintained in the Timeclock audit history, providing visibility into employee activity and subsequent corrections.
Learn more about managing day-to-day Timeclock activity:
Set Your Own Clock-In Rules
Different organizations manage employee time differently, so Timeclock includes administrative settings that allow organizations to determine how employees interact with the system.
Administrators can configure options including:
Whether employees must have a scheduled shift to clock in
Whether unscheduled clock-ins are permitted
How early employees can clock in before a scheduled shift
How long after a shift employees can clock out
Clock-in and clock-out rounding
Automatic clock-out rules
Pay and project codes
Employee and manager notifications
GPS-based location requirements
Organizations can configure these settings before enabling the employee-facing Timeclock, allowing administrators to establish their desired rules before rolling the feature out to staff.
Add GPS Geofencing
Organizations that want additional control over where employees can clock in and out can enable GPS-based geofencing.
Administrators determine the allowable distance from the facility, and HydroApps uses the facility address to establish the approved clock-in area. When the requirement is enabled, an employee must be within the designated area before the system allows the clock action.
This can provide an additional level of control for organizations operating multiple pools, recreation centers, camps, or other locations.
Get Ahead of Missed Clock-Ins
A missed punch is easier to fix when you know about it shortly after it happens. Timeclock can notify managers when a scheduled employee has not clocked in within a configurable number of minutes after their shift begins.
Organizations can also configure a notification for the employee, providing another reminder that their scheduled shift has started without a corresponding clock-in. Instead of discovering every missed punch during payroll preparation, managers have an opportunity to address some of those issues while the workday is still happening.
Keep an Eye on Maximum Hours
For organizations managing seasonal employees, minors, overtime considerations, or internal hour limits, knowing someone is approaching their maximum hours can be more useful than discovering they exceeded them after the fact.
Administrators can configure notifications based on employees' maximum daily and weekly hours. When an employee clocks in, HydroApps can evaluate their existing clocked hours along with the estimated hours associated with the current shift and alert managers when the employee is approaching or exceeding configured limits. This gives managers information they can use when making staffing decisions during the week.
Create Rules Around Early and Late Punches
A seven-minute difference may not seem significant for one employee on one day. Across dozens or hundreds of employees, small differences can add up. Timeclock allows administrators to establish how early employees may clock in before their scheduled shifts and how long after a scheduled shift they may clock out.
Organizations can also configure clock-in and clock-out rounding using 5-, 10-, or 15-minute intervals and choose whether times round forward, backward, or to the nearest interval. If rounding isn't desired, actual clock times can be recorded without adjustment. These controls allow organizations to configure Timeclock around their established timekeeping practices rather than forcing every organization into the same workflow.
Use Pay Codes for Different Types of Work
Aquatic and recreation employees frequently wear more than one hat. A single employee might work as a lifeguard, swim instructor, coach, front-desk employee, or another position depending on the day. Timeclock supports pay or project codes that can help organizations associate worked time with the appropriate role or type of work.
Administrators can establish pay codes and associate them with positions and facilities. When an employee clocks in for a scheduled shift, the appropriate pay code can automatically be associated with the position assigned to that shift. When organizations permit unscheduled clock-ins, employees can select the appropriate available pay code when they begin work.
Review and Correct Timesheets
Managers don't have to wait for a final report to investigate an employee's time. The Timesheets area allows authorized users to filter records by facility, staff member, and date range. Managers can review clock-ins, clock-outs, breaks, shifts, and applicable pay codes and make corrections when necessary.
This provides a place to resolve missed punches and other discrepancies before those records move further into an organization's payroll process. Changes are also recorded, helping maintain an audit history of Timeclock activity.
Scheduled ≠ Worked
One of the biggest advantages of connecting Timeclock with Schedule Manager is the ability to see the difference between the schedule and reality.
Consider an employee scheduled from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The schedule shows the planned eight-hour shift. Timeclock might show that the employee actually clocked in at 8:07 AM, recorded a 30-minute break, and clocked out at 3:55 PM.
Those are two different pieces of information, and managers benefit from having both.
Timeclock reporting can display scheduled shift information alongside actual clock-in and clock-out activity, total clocked hours, break hours, and other applicable data. Early and late clock activity is highlighted to make discrepancies easier to identify.
Turn Timekeeping Into Useful Reporting
Authorized users can filter Timeclock reports by facility and date range to review employee activity across the organization.
Depending on the organization's configuration, reports can include:
Date
Employee name
Employee ID
Facility
Pay code
Scheduled shift
Scheduled shift hours
Total clocked hours
Break hours
Actual clock-in and clock-out times
Payroll or labor cost information
Who clocked the employee in
IP address
This makes Timeclock data useful for more than simply answering, “How many hours did this person work?”
Managers can compare scheduled and actual time, identify recurring discrepancies, review break activity, examine labor information, and look for patterns across facilities or date ranges. A single exception tells you what happened that day. A pattern can tell you something about your operation.
Learn more about available reports:
Make Payroll Preparation Easier
Timeclock reporting can also help bridge the gap between daily employee timekeeping and an organization's existing payroll process. Managers can export Timeclock reporting data as a CSV file. Depending on the organization's configuration, that export can include employee IDs, pay codes, hours, and other applicable timekeeping information.
Organizations using a payroll import template can then use the HydroApps export to help prepare the applicable data for their existing payroll system. HydroApps doesn't need to replace the payroll system to make the process leading up to payroll easier.
More Than a Digital Punch Clock
The goal of Timeclock isn't simply to move a traditional punch clock onto a screen. It is to connect employee time with the rest of the operational information managers are already using.
Schedule: Who did we plan to have working?
Clock: Who actually worked?
Monitor: Who is working, on break, or missing from a scheduled shift right now?
Manage: What exceptions or corrections need attention?
Report: How did actual staffing compare with the plan?
For organizations already using HydroApps Schedule Manager, Timeclock adds another layer of visibility to the employee management process while keeping schedules, employee time, and operational information connected in one platform.
See HydroApps Timeclock in Action
Ready to connect your schedule with what’s actually happening on deck?
HydroApps Timeclock brings scheduling, employee time, staffing visibility, and reporting together to give managers a clearer picture of the workday from start to finish.
Already a HydroApps client? Visit the Help Center through your HydroApps portal to learn how to configure Timeclock for your organization.
Not using HydroApps yet? Schedule a demo to see how Timeclock and Schedule Manager can simplify staffing and timekeeping for your team.
Frequently Asked Questions About HydroApps Timeclock
What is HydroApps Timeclock?
HydroApps Timeclock is an employee timekeeping tool designed to work with HydroApps Schedule Manager. It connects scheduled shifts with actual employee time, allowing aquatic and recreation organizations to manage clock-ins, breaks, timesheets, staffing exceptions, and timekeeping reports in one system.
Can employees clock in from their phones?
Yes. Employees can clock in and out using the HydroApps mobile app or web app. They can also record breaks and review their own timekeeping history.
Can HydroApps restrict where employees clock in?
Yes. Organizations can enable GPS-based geofencing and establish an allowable distance from a facility. When enabled, employees must be within the designated area before they can clock in or out.
What happens if an employee forgets to clock in or out?
Managers can correct clock-in and clock-out information, adjust breaks, manually clock in scheduled employees, and add unscheduled employees when needed. Administrative changes are maintained in the Timeclock audit history.
Can HydroApps alert managers about missed clock-ins?
Yes. Managers can receive notifications when a scheduled employee has not clocked in within a configurable amount of time after their shift begins. Organizations can also send a notification to the employee.
Can Timeclock track employees who work different jobs or pay rates?
Timeclock supports pay or project codes that can be associated with positions and facilities. This can help organizations track employees who work different roles, such as lifeguarding, swim instruction, coaching, or front-desk shifts.
Does HydroApps Timeclock replace payroll software?
No. Timeclock is designed to help manage the timekeeping process leading up to payroll. Managers can export Timeclock data as a CSV file, including applicable employee IDs, pay codes, hours, and other timekeeping information, which can then help prepare data for an organization's existing payroll system.
Can managers compare scheduled hours with actual hours worked?
Yes. Because Timeclock works with Schedule Manager, managers can compare scheduled shifts with actual clock-in and clock-out activity, total clocked hours, break hours, and other applicable information. This can make it easier to identify discrepancies and staffing patterns over time.
