Running a multi-shift office
Multi-shift attendance breaks the simplest rule in the category: that nine o'clock is the start of the day. With three windows running, the same punch at ten is early, on time and late depending on who made it.
Some teams run mornings, some run mid, some run later to overlap a client. One office, one entrance, and a fingerprint terminal by the door.
Without named shifts, every report is wrong in the same direction. People on later windows look permanently late, and the on-time rate becomes a number nobody trusts.
Shifts in PeopleMuster are named windows with a start and end time, assigned per person from a date. Late minutes are then measured against that person's window.
One more thing shapes the reports: corrections. A thumb that did not read is a missing punch, and missing punches arrive as manual correction requests for an admin to approve or reject. Without that path the on-time rate slowly becomes a measure of scanner reliability. The sync header showing how long since the last device sync is worth reading before trusting a day's figures.
Why one record instead of two
Shift assignment is an HR fact that changes a delivery number. Somebody on a later window is not late, so the on-time rate stops lying. Their logged hours land in the same place as everyone else's. Attendance and timesheets answer different questions from the same person record.
What is switched on
- Shifts
- Named windows such as morning and mid, assigned per person with a start date and a history.
- Attendance
- Check-in, check-out, working hours and late minutes, measured against the assigned window.
- Holidays
- The company calendar stops a holiday reading as a day of mass absence.
- Attendance
- Manual punch requests catch the mornings when the device did not read a thumb.
- Roles and permissions
- Attendance and biometric device sync are their own permission domains, so not everyone sees everything.
- Notifications
- A scheduled Slack reminder is how the monthly attendance nudge goes out.
What the week looks like
Setup
Define the windows. Give each a name and times, then assign people from a start date.
Daily
Punches sync from the device. The header shows how long ago the last sync ran.
Daily
Missed punches arrive as manual correction requests, which an admin approves or rejects.
Weekly
Filter to late arrivals only. With windows set, that list is small and means something.
Shift change
Reassigning somebody creates a new assignment with its own start date. The old one stays in the history.
Month end
Read on-time rate and average working hours by department, and export if somebody wants the rows.
Questions people ask
Can two shifts share one attendance device?
Yes. The device records punches; the shift assignment decides what counts as late. One device serves every window in the office.
What happens when someone changes shift mid-month?
The new assignment carries its own start date. The previous one moves into assignment history. Each day is judged against the window in force that day.
Can a shift be assigned to a whole team at once?
Each person gets their own assignment, with a start date, an assigner and a status. That keeps the history exact for every individual when a whole team moves.
Can people on a late shift check in from the browser?
Yes, once an admin switches browser check-in on. The card opens around each person's own shift, so a late window gets a late check-in window. Fingerprints, where used, stay on the terminal.