Employee rights regarding time clock systems

Installing a digital time clock system in a company requires consultation with employee representatives. Employers must inform staff of their obligations regarding working hours and attendance tracking. What rights do employees have, and what options do they have if these rights are not respected?

The introduction of time clocks: improving workforce management

Benefits for employees

Modern time clocks offer more than just employee surveillance. Today’s digital clocking systems, integrated with HR software or a mobile app, are designed to accurately track working hours. This reduces disputes over overtime pay or absence records.

Since the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into force, time clock systems must also respect employee data protection rights. Employers must:

• Record start and end times, employee identity, and the date.
• Apply time tracking to all staff, including salaried managers under a fixed working day agreement.
• Comply with the Labour Code, which requires time tracking in most sectors, except agriculture and road transport.

Employees must follow time clock procedures, provided their employer respects GDPR guidelines.

GDPR compliance and employee rights

Employee data protection

Under GDPR, employers must keep records of actual working hours and provide this data during audits, such as labour inspections or URSSAF controls.

Employees have the right to:

• Access their own time clock records.
• Request corrections if errors are detected.

A key restriction under GDPR is the prohibition of biometric systems such as fingerprint scanning or facial recognition. These methods are generally illegal in France for attendance tracking, except in specific high-security environments like nuclear facilities.

Informing employee representatives

Consultation with the works council (CSE)

Before introducing a time clock system, employers must consult employee representatives. These representatives ensure the system respects employee rights and allows:

• Access to collected data.
• The right to object or request corrections.

During this consultation, the employer must:

• Explain the chosen time tracking software.
• Name the authorized personnel responsible for managing the data.

Why employees must comply with time tracking

Legal obligations for employers and employees

Employers who fail to track working hours face financial and legal penalties. Therefore, employers must provide time clock tools and employees are obliged to use them when arriving at and leaving work.

An employee who forgets to clock in cannot be fined directly. However, the employer may require the employee to make up for unrecorded hours.

In cases of repeated refusal to clock in, the employer may take disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, especially if intentional fraud is suspected. However, the employee can challenge the sanction before the Labour Court if they consider it excessive.

Advantages for employees

Time clocks also protect employee rights. They:

• Certify working hours.
• Ensure correct overtime pay.
• Guarantee that time records match the payslip.

This transparency benefits both employers and employees, reducing potential disputes over hours worked or overtime payments.

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