Clock out

Clocking out refers to when employees — usually those who are paid by the hour or who do shift work — record the time they finished their shift so that their employers can pay them accordingly.

In the past, staff would often clock out by writing their finish time on a paper timesheet, signing a logbook, or using timecards. These can be unreliable and easily abused however (see “buddy punching”), so modern businesses use digital time and attendance software that allows staff to clock in and out via their mobile phones, automatically recording employees’ in and out times on their individual timesheets which are stored online for managers to use when processing payroll.