10 Trends in Employee Time and Attendance Tracking for 2025

The last few years have brought significant changes to businesses and workplaces, including considerable time and attendance tracking trends. Notably, 85% of business leaders expect higher revenue over the next 12 months, with 50% planning to increase full-time employee headcount to support their growth goals.

Now is a great time to examine your own time and attendance processes and consider innovative solutions that can positively affect your business.

1. Accounting for Remote and Flexible Work

Remote work and flextime, or flexible work schedules, have become permanent fixtures for many businesses. Depending on the company, this could look like a shortened workweek (four days a week, for example, instead of five), a compressed workweek (four longer days for full-time compensation), flex time for on-site hours, and job-sharing, where two people share responsibility for one job.

Yet, according to Paychex's 2025 Priorities for Business Leaders, 57% of business leaders report that attracting and recruiting talent remains a top HR challenge. This highlights the importance of time and attendance systems that can adapt to today's diverse and evolving work models.

Mobile time and attendance systems that make it easy for employees to manage their flexible work hours while allowing companies to accurately record work hours and manage regional and local differences in reporting requirements are essential for embracing today's modern workplace. Even with the latest technology, it's important to work with a professional who can help you reduce gaps between what the system can manage and the regulations that apply to your company.

2. Biometric Time Tracking

Today's robust timekeeping systems provide flexibility features and a range of punch-in options, regardless of team members' locations. Biometric scanning captures a biometric identifier (e.g., hand, finger, or face) which is converted into a template—a mathematical representation of the data used for employee identification. Biometric technology's enhanced functionality and sleek user interface provide a consistent punch experience, helping employers capture actual time worked.

Employees can access a shared device to clock in and out using facial recognition software via a kiosk app. Offline clocking and the ability to run for hours on an internal battery makes this option a perfect fit for workers who travel or move between work sites. Enhanced functionality helps provide a consistent punch experience, allowing employees to capture time worked on their tablet or smart device.

Iris recognition technology continues to advance as a robust option for automated employee time and attendance tracking. This secure technology uses visible and near-infrared light to take a high-contrast photograph of a person's iris. It is highly accurate, making it advantageous over other time and attendance tracking systems.

3. Empowering Employees With Self-Service Technology

The emergence of internet-connected time-tracking systems has ushered in the growth of employee self-service technology that enables workers to perform various time-related tasks independently. This could be anything from their ability to view, edit, and submit timecards to requesting time off and submitting pay adjustments.

This trend of employee self-service can benefit organizations with offsite, remote, and hybrid workforces, where access to physical resources and information might be more challenging. The result is a more informed and empowered workforce and reduces the burden on HR and managerial teams by minimizing routine employee requests and inquiries.

4. Integrating Time Tracking and Payroll on One Platform

The adoption of HR technology to optimize various business functions continues to rise. The 2023 Paychex Pulse of HR Survey found that one of the main areas HR leaders planned to use digital HR tools was time and attendance tracking.

Businesses choosing to move away from manual or paper-based time-tracking processes to a more efficient system find that an integrated online time, attendance, and payroll system leverages the intelligent logic of automation to reach maximum efficiency. Self-service features can be much more effective when payroll, time and attendance, and HR information is available through a single platform.

Employees can log into the system and quickly access information about payroll, paid time off, available vacation and sick time, current tax deductions, and benefits. HR staff and managers can also access employee information more quickly on demand, saving time and enabling them to make more informed decisions.

5. Informing Future Business Decisions With Time Intelligence

Another benefit of an integrated timekeeping solution is that it offers insight into time intelligence—a new way of thinking about time and attendance. Consider the number of hours employees work in your company each year. Can you account for all that time? Can you also track time and tie it to specific outcomes or projects? When you can track time and connect outcomes, you can use time and attendance technology to start making decisions in the future based on these insights.

Of course, this requires a company's time and attendance system to evolve beyond the physical aspects of punching in and out and timesheets and focus on tracking how you pay employees and labor costs.

However, the future may involve using time and attendance software tools as part of a workforce management solution, simplifying how companies manage employee hours, track job costs, and report on them. For instance, a robust time-tracking solution that integrates with payroll can often track employees' hours worked and provide data for making informed decisions. Real-time analytics and reports (e.g., labor distribution and job tracking) can help businesses identify trends, optimize labor allocations, and proactively address potential cost overruns.

6. Managing Compliance Risk

Some other regulatory requirements that a time and attendance system may be able to assist with include:

• Wage and hour laws
• Predictive scheduling laws, where applicable
• Tracking various forms of leave, such as sick time, along with family or medical leave
• Affordable Care Act requirements

An advanced time and attendance system helps businesses navigate complex regulatory requirements and address broader operational challenges. With 77% of companies with 100-499 employees facing cybersecurity concerns, these systems provide a secure solution for tracking employee hours while supporting compliance with labor laws and safeguarding sensitive data.

7. Increased Use of AI Tools

AI can assist with tasks such as providing accurate forecasts to help HR professionals with workforce planning. Intelligent systems can also quickly detect irregularities in hour logs, helping to enforce company policies and supporting compliance.

This automation also helps to streamline the payroll process. AI-powered analytics allow leaders to identify trends, optimize schedules, and make data-driven decisions to increase productivity. The result is a win-win for employees and employers: a seamless, accurate process that's more efficient and easier to manage.

8. Integration With Wearable Technology

Wearable technology, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, can also revolutionize your time and attendance system.

Employees can clock hours with a simple wrist tap, and their devices synchronize seamlessly with your tracking software.

Wearables are perfect for industries that require employees to be on-site but have their hands free, such as healthcare or construction. They're also a great way to increase accessibility for employees with disabilities.

This hands-free time card option is convenient, accurate, and easy to use. Today's workforce values technology and convenience, so why not make time tracking a breeze?

9. Voice and Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Voice-activated devices are gaining widespread popularity, offering a more intuitive way to handle time tracking.

Employees can clock hours, request time off, and edit their schedules with simple voice commands. Voice and natural language processing tools are perfect for employees on the go or those in the field who can't always access their devices.

By making it easy to complete common tasks, you can reduce friction in your workforce management process, control costs, and increase efficiency across the board.

10. Adopting Leading Time Tracking Features

Sophisticated employee time-tracking trends emphasize features that reduce errors and streamline management and reporting. This aligns with the priorities of 95% of leaders focused on enhancing workforce productivity.

Look for the following key features and developments in employee monitoring trends.

Cloud-Based Time and Attendance System

A fully integrated cloud-based time tracking system can offer real-time, easy access to data, providing employees with an advanced, user-friendly alternative to outdated or manual time tracking processes. Automated systems often feature employee dashboards and flexible punch methods, including clocking in through mobile punches via smartphone or tablet. Some systems offer a range of additional, customizable online time collection options—whether by badge, biometric finger scan and iris scanner, keypad, or web entry—that can help reduce lost time and boost employee productivity.

Wi-Fi Enabled Time Clocks

As mentioned earlier, biometric iris technology continues to gain popularity due to its time-punch accuracy and ease of use for employees. For instance, the Paychex Iris Time Clock is designed for today's dynamic workforce and easily supports businesses of all sizes. Its compact, modern design makes it easy to place in manufacturing and other environments where space may be limited. And the choice of Wi-Fi or Power over Ethernet (PoE) through your business's internet provider makes it easy to install.

Advanced Scheduling Modules With Calendar Integration

Integrated scheduling can now be done using a time and attendance solution. This seamless integration offers businesses greater visibility and flexibility in managing employee schedules. The organizational unit or employee group can digitally monitor these various employee schedules weekly, with pre-set capacity requirements per shift.

Also, employees can communicate their availability to supervisors and receive email notifications of changes in real time, making it easier for them to plan and keep commitments in their personal lives.

With calendar integration, employees can synchronize their work schedules to their calendars on their smartphones, tablets, or PCs. This function gives employees and managers a more customized approach to managing shifts and overtime schedules in the most comfortable format.

Time-tracking innovations have advanced to the point where, in an emergency, an employee can easily modify their schedule and adjust it to their needs. Entering time has also become simple so that an employee may view schedules and only need to enter exceptions.

Facial Recognition Kiosk App

Some small businesses are adopting a mobile punch option, using facial recognition software and a kiosk app. This app offers employee self-service features such as clocking in and out, requesting time off, and more. It can be an ideal resource for people on the move. The enhanced functionality and sleek user interface provide a consistent punch experience, allowing employers to capture real-time work on electronic devices like tablets.

Mobile Timesheets

Mobile timesheet software, downloaded as an app onto a mobile device, enables employees to access timesheets online. The data provided in this user-friendly method can help employers with payroll processing and recordkeeping and offers the ability to monitor employee attendance more closely.

Mileage Reimbursement Apps

A time and attendance system can also be used to reimburse mileage. For example, the Paychex Flex® mobile app allows employees to input data directly, eliminating the need for manual tracking.

Take Advantage of the Latest Time Tracking Software Trends This Year

Understanding the latest trends in time and attendance software and critically reviewing your time tracking method may be essential for hiring, labor costing, and job assignments, all of which require knowing employees' exact hours worked. As you research time and attendance systems, consider implementing a flexible and scalable solution to address your business needs.