Staff, Shifts & Attendance: The Complete A-to-Z Guide
Scheduled shift, actual clock-in, and the gap between them — the number payroll should actually be paid on.
Scheduled vs. actual
A shift is the plan. Attendance is what really happened. Payroll should run on the second one.
| Term | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Shift | The planned schedule for a staff member | Ramesh — Evening, 5:00 PM–1:00 AM |
| Attendance | The real clock-in and clock-out time | Clocked in 5:10 PM, out 1:05 AM |
| Payroll basis | What wages are actually calculated on | Actual hours worked, not scheduled hours |
Creating and assigning a shift
- 1
Open Shift Management and create a shift with its start and end time
/hr/shifts/new - 2
Assign staff members to that shift for the days it applies
/hr/shifts/assignments/new - 3
Staff see their upcoming shift and clock in against it when they arrive
Clock-in and clock-out, worked example
| Time | |
|---|---|
| Scheduled start | 5:00 PM |
| Actual clock-in | 5:10 PM |
| Scheduled end | 1:00 AM |
| Actual clock-out | 1:05 AM |
| Hours worked (for payroll) | 7h 55m |
Why this matters for hourly staff
Calculating late minutes
Late minutes
Ramesh clocking in at 5:10 PM against a 5:00 PM start is 10 minutes late. A clock-in at 4:55 PM is zero minutes late — early doesn't count as a negative, it just isn't late.
Handling a shift swap
Staff trade shifts more often than a schedule admits. If a swap isn't recorded in the system itself, attendance shows the originally scheduled person as absent and the person who actually worked as an unscheduled walk-in — breaking payroll for both of them.
Common mistake
Quick reference
| To… | Go to |
|---|---|
| View and manage shifts | /hr/shifts |
| Assign staff to a shift | /hr/shifts/assignments/new |
| Clock in / clock out | /attendance/clock-in · /attendance/clock-out |
| Review attendance reports | /attendance/reports |
Before running payroll, check:
Payroll calculated on scheduled hours, not actual. Silently over- or under-pays hourly staff every single cycle.
A missing clock-out left uncorrected. Shows as an implausibly long shift instead of being flagged and fixed by a manager.
Shift swaps not reflected in the system. Attendance ends up contradicting who actually worked — the exact record payroll depends on.
Related RasoeeCloud Products
Frequently Asked Questions
A shift is the schedule — who is expected to work when. Attendance is what actually happened — the real clock-in and clock-out time, which can differ from the schedule and is what payroll should be based on for hourly staff.
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