Why Can't An Employee Clock In?

⚡ The Issue

An employee is trying to clock in for their shift on the Push Time or Push Employee app and is unable to. This can happen for a few unrelated reasons, so this article walks through each one so you can quickly find which applies.

You might be searching for this if:

• I have an employee who cannot clock in.
• Why is an employee unable to clock in for their shift?

🔐 Who can fix this

Who can make these changes?

• Super Administrators: Full access to update Positions, Clock Settings, Clock IDs, and Position Access without restriction.
• Team Administrators: Can make these changes if they have the relevant permissions enabled (Set Up Company Positions, Manage Clock Settings, or Edit Employee Information, depending on the fix). If you're unable to access any of these, please confirm your permissions with a Super Administrator.
• Employees: Do not have access to make any of these changes themselves. If you're an employee unable to clock in, please reach out to your direct employer or manager, who can review your profile details and make the necessary updates. 

📋 Topics covered in this article:

• Position: No Active Position Assigned
• Clock Settings: Employee Isn't On The Published Schedule
• Clock ID: Employee Is Missing A Clock ID
• Push Time App: Device Not Registered With Your Account
• Push Time App: Position Not Enabled For This Device
• Push Employee App: Mobile Time And Attendance Not Enabled
• Push Employee App: Position Not Enabled For Mobile Clock-In

📚 Related articles:

• Check out our dedicated Time Tracking section to find how-to guides, FAQs, and more.

Position: No Active Position Assigned

An employee needs an active Position on their profile to clock in — this is the role (e.g. Cashier) tied to their pay rate and selected when they clock in in the Push Time or Push Employee app.

 If an employee's profile has no Position, or their only Position has an End Date in the past, there's nothing for the app to attach their clock entry to, and clocking in isn't possible.

How to recognize it: open the employee's profile and check the Salary/Position section — if it's empty, or every listed Position shows an End Date before today, this is the cause.

How to fix it: assign the employee an active Position by following How to Assign an Employee A New Position. Once a Position with no End Date is added, the employee can clock in.

📌 | Note: if the employee was promoted or changed roles, end their old Position with an End Date and add the new one, rather than editing the existing Position's details — editing in place can cause discrepancies in the Scheduler, clock entries, and reporting.

Clock Settings: Employee Isn't On The Published Schedule

Under Clock Settings, there's a toggle labelled "Prevent clock in when an employee is unscheduled." When this is enabled, employees who aren't part of a currently published schedule are blocked from clocking in on the Push Time or Push Employee app — the system is intentionally stopping unscheduled clock-ins rather than something being broken.

How to recognize it: check whether the employee is on today's published schedule. If they aren't, and this toggle is enabled on your account, that's the cause.

How to fix it: either add the employee to the published schedule for their shift, or review and disable the Prevent clock in when an employee is unscheduled toggle by following How To Update Clock Settings.

📌 | Note: this setting only affects unscheduled employees — if the employee is on the published schedule and still can't clock in, check the other causes in this article instead.

Clock ID: Employee Is Missing A Clock ID

A Clock ID is typically a 4-digit code used to identify an employee for clocking in and out of a shift in either the Push Time or Push Employee app. This is set by an administrator in the employee's profile, under the Push Payroll Employee Login section. Without a Clock ID, an employee cannot clock in, regardless of whether they have an active Position.

How to recognize it: open the employee's profile and check the Push Payroll Employee Login section — if the Clock ID field is blank, this is the cause.

💡 | Tip: to check for employees missing a Clock ID across your whole team, run the Employee Information report and filter by Clock ID — anyone missing one will show a blank field.

💡 | Tip: employees can also check their own Clock ID by logging into the Push Employee app — under the main menu, their name will show "Clock ID: 1234".

How to fix it: open the employee's profile, go to the Push Payroll Employee Login section, and add a Clock ID. If you're unsure what to input, click the blue Auto-Assign button to generate a random code. For full steps, see How To Edit An Employee's Information.

⚠️ | Important: an active Position does not guarantee clock-in access on its own — a missing Clock ID will still block clock-in even if the Position is set up correctly.

Push Time App: Device Not Registered With Your Account

The Push Time app runs on a tablet or dedicated device that your business has chosen for clock-ins. Before anyone can use it, that specific device needs to be registered with your account. Until a device is registered, clock-in attempts on it won't be recognized by your account, even for an employee with an active Position and Clock ID.

How to recognize it: check whether any employee can clock in on that specific device — not just the one you're troubleshooting. If nobody can clock in on it, the device likely isn't registered yet.

How to fix it: register the device with your account by following How To Register A Device With The Push Time App.

Push Time App: Position Not Enabled For This Device

Once a device is registered, by default every Position can clock in on it — but you have the option to limit which Positions are allowed to clock in on a specific device. Some businesses may do this by department (e.g., a front-counter device only allows Cashier and Server Positions, while a kitchen device only allows Cook and Dishwasher Positions). 

It's entirely up to how your business is set up. If an employee's Position isn't enabled for the specific device they're trying to use, they'll be blocked from clocking in on it — even though that same device works fine for their coworkers in other Positions.

How to recognize it: Navigate to Clock Settings, and under the Tablet Device section, find the device (by its Device ID) the employee is trying to clock in on. Check the list of Positions enabled for that device — if the employee's Position isn't checked, that is the cause.

How to fix it: In that same Tablet Device section, click Edit under Positions and check the box next to the relevant Position to enable clock-in access for that device, then save your changes. For full steps, see How To Filter What Positions Can Clock-In/Out From The Push Time App.

💡 | Tip: if you are limiting what positions can access the Push Time app and recently created a new role, it likely isn't checked off on any existing devices yet — new Positions need to be manually enabled per device.

Push Employee App: Mobile Time And Attendance Not Enabled

Unlike the Push Time app, the Push Employee app doesn't require a device to be registered — instead, mobile clock-in is controlled by a feature called Mobile Time and Attendance, which some businesses choose not to turn on. For example, a business might want employees to clock in only while physically on-site using a Push Time device, rather than from their own phones. If this feature isn't enabled for your account, no employees will be able to clock in from the Push Employee app, regardless of their Position.

How to recognize it: check whether any employee, in any Position, is able to clock in from the Push Employee app. If nobody can, Mobile Time and Attendance likely hasn't been turned on for your account yet.

How to fix it: Under Clock Settings, navigate to the Other Settings section and check the toggle labelled "Allow Employee Mobile Time & Attendance", it'll be enabled for all positions by default. For a more detailed walk-through, follow the article How To Enable/Update Mobile Time And Attendance to turn the feature on for your account.

Push Employee App: Position Not Enabled For Mobile Clock-In

Once Mobile Time and Attendance is enabled for your account, you can still limit which Positions can use it. Some businesses only want a couple of Positions (for example, delivery drivers or field staff) clocking in through the app on their phones, while everyone else clocks in on a tablet in-store. If an employee's Position hasn't been given this access, they won't see a Time & Attendance option in their Push Employee app, even though it's working fine for coworkers in other Positions.

How to recognize it: the employee reports they don't see a Time & Attendance option in the Push Employee app, while coworkers in other Positions can use it without issue. This confirms the feature is enabled, but not for this employee's Position.

How to fix it: Under Clock Settings, navigate to the Other Settings section and under the toggle labelled "Allow Employee Mobile Time & Attendance", click the Position box and select the relevant role that is missing. For a detailed breakdown of how to enable this in your account, check out this article: How To Filter What Positions Can Clock-In/Out From The Push Employee App.

Additional Information

Need further help? Refer to our Getting Help & Contacting Support article for the latest support options and ways to connect with our team. 

Still having trouble with employees clocking in? When contacting our Support team, we recommend providing the employee's first and last name, the Device ID of the affected Push Time app, if applicable, a screenshot or video of the error the employee is experiencing, and any other relevant information to help our team resolve the issue more quickly.