What is geofencing for staff attendance?
A plain English guide to workplace geofencing, inside and outside location results, GPS limitations and the way TeamZap records attendance for review.
By The TeamZap Team · · 3 min read
In this guide
A geofence is a virtual boundary around a workplace. When an employee clocks in using a phone, attendance software can compare the phone’s reported location with that area. The result adds context to the clocking record.
In TeamZap, that result is recorded for a manager to review. An outside result does not block the clock in. Understanding that distinction helps employers explain the feature accurately to their staff.
Picture a boundary around your workplace
Imagine drawing a small circle around your café, shop or client building on a map. The centre represents the workplace location and the radius sets the size of the area being checked.
This is a software setting, not a physical barrier. It does not require a fence, a beacon covering the street or a device at every corner. Choose the boundary for the workplace you want to check, then test it where staff actually arrive.
Avoid making the boundary so large that neighbouring streets or unrelated sites become part of the useful area. Equally, do not assume a tiny radius will produce perfectly precise results indoors. Test first and review the location context.
What do the three results mean?
| Result | What it tells a manager | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Inside | The reported phone location falls within the configured area | That the employee remained there for the whole shift |
| Outside | The reported location falls outside the configured area | Why it was outside or whether the person did no work |
| Not checked | A usable location or workplace check was unavailable | That the person was inside or outside |
An unavailable result should remain unavailable. Replacing it with an assumed successful check would hide the very uncertainty the manager needs to see.
A practical example
A fictional cleaner, Amira, clocks in for an evening visit to an office. The attendance record shows an outside result.
The supervisor first checks the assigned workplace and the position of the boundary. They then ask Amira about the clocking action. Perhaps it was completed before entering, the site was assigned incorrectly or the phone reported an imprecise location.
The supervisor should establish what happened and record any justified correction through the normal process. The coloured result alone is not a decision about pay or conduct.
For dispersed teams, a daily exception review is more useful than expecting a map to explain every visit. See attendance across cleaning client sites.
Is geofencing continuous tracking?
A location check associated with a clocking event is different from a continuous movement history. This page describes TeamZap’s attendance location check. It does not promise continuous tracking or live employee location monitoring.
Explain your actual use to staff: which action requests location, why you need it, who reviews the record and how someone can raise a concern. Keep the explanation consistent with the system you have configured and your employment privacy information.
If your business is considering broader location monitoring, assess that separately. Do not assume a useful attendance feature authorises every other use of location data.
Set up a useful review process
- Check the workplace address and location before choosing a radius.
- Test arrivals from the entrances staff normally use.
- Include different supported phones in the trial.
- Review an inside result, an outside result and an unavailable result.
- Explain how staff should report a problem.
- Decide who reviews exceptions and when they do it.
Keep the first week manageable. One supervisor reviewing a few trial records can discover incorrect site assignments before those errors spread across a larger team.
How does it fit with NFC?
NFC gives staff a physical point to tap. Geofencing adds location context to a phone based attendance action. They answer related but different questions: how staff start the action and what location information accompanies it.
Explore TeamZap attendance and location checks. For the action at the door, read NFC clock in explained.
Frequently asked questions
Does TeamZap block clock in outside the geofence?
No. TeamZap records the clock in and the location result for a manager to review.
What happens when location is unavailable?
The record can show Not checked. It should not be interpreted as proof that the employee was on site.
