Punch Round Rules

Rounding punches allows payroll to be processed more easily. Punches rounded to quarter hours and tenth hours, for example, are easier to interpret than real‐time punches. Rounding punches ensures that payroll rules are applied consistently to a group of employees. In Workforce Timekeeper there are two ways to round: punch rounding and interval rounding. This course covers only the punch rounding feature.

Workforce Central 7 Workforce Central Core Concepts & Configuration

Kronos Internal Use Only 1

The Punch Round Rule is a Work Rule Building Block that influences the amount of time the employee works and can eventually affect how much they’re paid. The employee’s pay rule will contain the work rule which contains the punch round rule.



Rounding punches allows payroll to be processed more easily and consistently. Rounding punches ensures that shift totals are based on a quarter‐hour, tenth hour, or half‐hour as opposed to the minute. The round value divides an hour into equal increments of time; a punch is then rounded to one of these increments. Rounding is defined by round and grace values.



You might find it easier to determine a shift total for 8:15a.m. to 4:15p.m. than 8:09a.m. to 4:21.p.m.

If punch rounding is not used, (as in the example on the left) shift totals reflect minute‐to‐minute, or real time, and are totaled accordingly.

Let’s take a look at how we define round and grace values



Round The round value divides each hour into equal increments of time. The two most common round values are 15 minutes (quarter‐hour rounding) and 6 minutes (tenth‐hour rounding). The round must divide the hour into equal increments of time. For example, 1, 6, 15, and 30 are valid rounds; 9 is not.

Grace The grace value determines to which increment the punch should round. The grace causes the punch to round forward to the next increment or back to the previous increment. The grace, short for grace period, is expressed as a number of minutes, measured forward from an increment of time. If an employee punches within the grace period, including the grace minute itself, the punch is rounded back to the previous increment. If an employee punches after the grace period, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment. The grace value must be less than the round value.

We will now explore the grace value a little further.



The three terms to understand when it comes to grace, is Next, Nearest and Previous.Next means that we want punches to round to the next round increment. We accomplish this by setting the grace value to zero. If I have 6/00 round and grace and I punch in at 6:01, it will round to 6:06 (it goes to the next time increment). It will never round backwards.Nearest means that we want the punch to round to the nearest round increment. By setting the grace value at ½ the round we will get our desired results. If I have 06/03 round and grace and I punch in between 6:01‐6:03 it will round back to 6:00. If I punch in between 6:04‐6:06, it will round forward to 6:06 because I have punched in after the grace period.Previous means that we want the punch to round to the previous round increment. To achieve the desired result, the grace value is one less than the round value. If I have 06/05 round and grace and I punch in between 6:01‐6:05 it will round back to 6:00. If I punch in at 6:06, it will stay at 6:06. In other words, it never rounds forward.It is also good to know that when I punch on a round value, my punch does not get rounded again. For example, if I punch in at 6:00 in any of the above examples, my punch would stay at 6:00. A punch on the round always stays on the round.



Here you will see the most common examples of Rounds and Grace rounding for Next, Nearest and Previous. There are some guidelines when setting Rounds and Graces.

All Rounds must be set to at least one minute.Each Round must be greater than it's corresponding grace.If you want hour totals to round evenly, all rounds must be multiples of each other. For example, for totals to round to 15‐minute intervals, all rounds must be multiples of 15 minutes.



When there is no Rounding Rule in effect, we call this minute to minute rounding. In other words, the punch is not rounded. The time is calculated based on actual punches only.



Rounding punches allows payroll to be processed more easily and consistently.In‐Punch Tab‐Configuration for the employee’s scheduled start time rounding.Out Punch Tab‐Configuration for the employee’s scheduled stop time rounding.Early Punch Rounding‐Indicates the punch is before the scheduled start or stop time.Late Punch Rounding‐Indicates the punch is after the scheduled start or stop time.Change Point‐Determines when inside and outside rounds and graces apply to punches. To use inside roundsand grace, you must use a change point. We will discuss change points later.Outside Round‐Typical rounding occurs on the outside round. Rounds divide hours into equal segments, byminutes, so 60 is a multiple of the round. The most common are Quarter‐Hour (:15) and Tenth‐Hour (:06) Rounds.Inside Round‐Used in conjunction with Change Points. Rounds divide hours into equal segments, by minutes,so 60 is a multiple of the round. The most common are Quarter‐Hour (:15) and Tenth‐Hour (:06) Rounds.Outside Grace‐Typical grace periods occur and determines when shift start and end times round to the previousincrement, the next increment, and when they stay the same. Outside graces are used with outside rounds. Graces must be less than round amounts.Inside Grace‐Used in conjunction with Change Points. Determine when shift start and end times round to theprevious increment, the next increment, and when they stay the same. Inside graces are used with inside rounds. Graces must be less than round amounts.



Punch Round Rules can be selected in the Generic Data Access Profile to control which Round Rules can be configured.



You have completed this lesson, continue on with the next lesson in this module by going

to the OWL.



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If we want punches to round to the:• next quarter hour, the round and grace values would be 15/00• nearest quarter hour, the round and grace values would be 15/07• previous quarter hour, the round and grace values would be 15/14



With a 15‐minute round and zero minute grace value:•If an employee punches at 7:00, 7:15, 7:30, 7:45 or 8:00 the time remains the same.•If an employee punches between 7:01 and 7:14, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:15. •If an employee punches between 7:16 and 7:29, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:30.•If an employee punches between 7:31 and 7:44, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:45. •If an employee punches between 7:46 and 7:59, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 8:00.

•The punch is never rounded back.



With a 15‐minute round and a 7‐minute grace:•If an employee punches at 7:00, 7:15, 7:30, 7:45 or 8:00 the time remains the same.•If an employee punches between 7:01 and 7:07, the punch is rounded back to the previous increment of 7:00.•If an employee punches between 7:08 and 7:14, after the grace period, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:15.

When an employee punches on the grace minute, the punch is always rounded back.



With a 15‐minute round and a 14‐minute grace:•If an employee punches at 7:00, 7:15, 7:30, 7:45 or 8:00 the time remains the same.•If an employee punches between 7:01 and 7:14, the punch rounds back to 7:00.•If an employee punches between 7:16 and 7:29, the punch rounds back to 7:15.•If an employee punches between 7:31 and 7:44, the punch rounds back to 7:30. •If an employee punches between 7:46 and 7:59, the punch rounds back to 7:45.

The punch is never rounded forward.



When the quarter hour round is configured, this means the Round values will be set to 15 minutes. The grace depends on how you want to round the time.



We will configure employee’s punches to be rounded to the previous quarter hour for the in punch and the out punch whether they punch in early or late.

1. Log into the Classic User Interface as SuperUser (SuperUser / kronos)2. Access the Setup link in the upper right corner.3. Select Punch Round Rules from the Pay Policies Content Menu – Work Rule Building Blocks

section.4. Select New. 5. Let's start by configuring the In‐Punch to round back to the previous quarter hour. 6. Set the Round in the Early Punch Rounding to 15 minutes. (0:15)7. Round to the PREVIOUS quarter hour by entering 14 minutes for the grace. (0:14)8. Now Select the Round for the Late In Punch and set it to 15 minutes. (0:15)9. Set the Grace to 14 minutes. (0:14)

10. Select the out punch tab. 11. Set the Early Out Round to 15 minutes (0:15)12. Set the Early Out Grace to 14 minutes (0:14)13. Set the Late Out Round to 15 minutes (0:15)14. Set the Late Out Grace to 14 minutes (0:14)

15. This rule is configured to round the employee to the previous quarter hour whether they punch in or out early or late. Name the Round Rule for what is configured ‐ In Out Previous Quarter Hour.

16. Save & Return.




to the OWL.



If we want punches to round to the:• next tenth of an hour, the round and grace values would be 06/00• nearest tenth of an hour, the round and grace values would be 06/03• previous tenth of an hour, the round and grace values would be 06/05



With a 6‐minute round and no grace:•If an employee punches at 7:00, 7:06, 7:12, 7:18, 7:24, 7:30, 7:36, 7:42, 7:48, 7:54 or 8:00 the time remains the same.• If an employee punches between 7:01 and 7:05, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:06.• If an employee punches between 7:07 and 7:11, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:12.• If an employee punches between 7:13 and 7:17, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:18.• If an employee punches between 7:19 and 7:23, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:24.• If an employee punches between 7:25 and 7:29, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:30.• If an employee punches between 7:31 and 7:35, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:36.• If an employee punches between 7:37 and 7:41, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:42.• If an employee punches between 7:43 and 7:47, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:48.• If an employee punches between 7:49 and 7:53, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:54.• If an employee punches between 7:55 and 7:59, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 8:00.•The punch is never rounded back.



With a 6‐minute round and a 3‐minute grace:•If an employee punches at 7:00, 7:06, 7:12, 7:18, 7:24, 7:30, 7:36, 7:42, 7:48, 7:54 or 8:00 the time remains the same.•If an employee punches between 7:01 and 7:03, the punch is rounded back to the previous increment of 7:00.• If an employee punches between 7:04 and 7:05, after the grace period, the punch is rounded forward to the next increment of 7:06.

When an employee punches on the grace minute, the punch is always rounded back.



With a 6‐minute round and no grace:•If an employee punches at 7:00, 7:06, 7:12, 7:18, 7:24, 7:30, 7:36, 7:42, 7:48, 7:54 or 8:00 the time remains the same.• If an employee punches between 7:01 and 7:05, the punch is rounded back to 7:00.• If an employee punches between 7:07 and 7:11, the punch is rounded back to 7:06.• If an employee punches between 7:13 and 7:17, the punch is rounded back to 7:12.• If an employee punches between 7:19 and 7:23, the punch is rounded back to 7:18.• If an employee punches between 7:25 and 7:29, the punch is rounded back to 7:24.• If an employee punches between 7:31 and 7:35, the punch is rounded back to 7:30.• If an employee punches between 7:37 and 7:41, the punch is rounded back to 7:36.• If an employee punches between 7:43 and 7:47, the punch is rounded back to 7:42.• If an employee punches between 7:49 and 7:53, the punch is rounded back to 7:48.• If an employee punches between 7:55 and 7:59, the punch is rounded back to 7:54.

•The punch is never rounded forward.



In this example, setting the round to 6 minutes and grace to 3 minutes will round the in punch and outpunch to the nearest tenth hour.



We will configure employee’s punches to be rounded to the nearest tenth hour for the in punch and the out punch whether they punch in early or late.

1. Continue logged in as SuperUser and create a new Punch Round Rule.2. On the In Punch Tab, we will first configure when the employee punches in early

using Early Punch Rounding. The requirement is to always round to the nearest tenth hour. One tenth of 60 minutes is 6. Select Round field and enter 6 minutes (0:06)

3. Since the punch should always round to the NEAREST tenth, we will enter 3 minutes for the grace. (0:03)

4. Next we'll configure the late in punches. Set the Round to 6 minutes. (0:06)5. Set the grace to the nearest tenth hour or 3 minutes. (0:03)6. Now we’ll select the Out Punch tab.7. We'll start with when the employee punches OUT early. Select Round and set it

to 6 minutes. (0:06)8. Once again, Set the grace to 3 minutes to round to the nearest tenth hour.

(0:03)9. Configure the rule for when an employee punches out late. The round will again

be 6 minutes (0:06) and the grace 3 minutes. (0:03)10. Name the Round Rule for what is configured – “In Out Nearest Tenth Hour” to

describe that all in and out punches will round to the nearest tenth hour11. Save and Return




to the OWL.



Remember that the Punch Round Rule is associated with the employee by assigning it to the Work Rule.



You’ll learn more about Work Rules throughout the course. For now, we’ll just associate the Punch Round Rule with the Work Rule.



We will assign this Punch Round Rule to the Employee’s Work Rule and test the new Punch Round rule.

1. Continue logged in as SuperUser 2. Select Work Rules from the Pay Policies Content Menu in Setup.3. Edit the Employees Work Rule4. Set the Round to the In Out Nearest Tenth Hour Punch Round Rule.5. Select the option under Version Effective Dates to Update this Version. 6. Save & Return This Work Rule is already associated with the Employee’s Pay Rule. This

rule is now in effect.

7. Go to the My Genies Tab and select QuickFind8. Go to Emma Employee’s Timecard.9. Notice that Emma does not have a schedule. The round rules are not configured for

unscheduled time. We will assign a shift for today. Select the Schedule Quick Link.



NOTE: If you get an error about the data not being populated – run Shift Builder.‐ Go back to Setup‐ Select Event Manager from Common Setup‐ Locate the Shift Builder Event‐ Click Run‐ It can take 10‐15 minutes for this to complete.‐ Go back to Emma’s Schedule.‐ If the message reappears – just click OK and Refresh.

10. Type directly in the cell for today – 9am‐5pm11. Then Save the Schedule.12. Go back to the Timecard by using the Quick Link.13. In the Timecard, to make the Schedule appear for today, go to Actions | Refresh.14. Clear today’s punches and replace them with: In Punch – 9:02am Out Punch 5:07pm15. Notice that the employee is paid for 8 hours and 6 minutes. 16. Double click the punches to determine the rounded punch times.

17. 9:02am is rounded to 9am – 9 am is the nearest tenth hour to 9:02am18. 5:07pm is rounded to 5:06pm – 5:06 is the nearest tenth hour to 5:07




to the OWL.



Some companies do not use rounding rules and they pay their employee based on the actual punches. This is common when a company has unions. Consider this example where an employee punches in 14 minutes early and punches out 14 minutes late. The result is nearly ½ hour of overtime. One employee earning this overtime for one day doesn’t really have a large impact on the company but consider that this could be thousands of employees for hundreds of days each year. The casual overtime really can add up.



Using the punches from the previous example, to encourage employees to arrive to work on time and not work beyond their scheduled end time, you can round the in and out punches differently. The employee’s in punch rounds forward and the out punch rounds backwards. This is one scenario that can be used to prevent casual overtime.



We’ve seen 6 and 15 already for tenth and quarter hour rounding – but what about…

5 minute rounding10 minute rounding12 minute rounding20 minute rounding and30 minute rounding

You can even consider for very rare situations, 1, 2, 3, and 4 minute rounding. Any number that is divides into 60 evenly.



Now we know that the Round can be any number that divides evenly into 60, and the grace can be any number that is less than the round, let’s look at a couple of unusual scenarios.

Using the quarter hour rounding, a customer may want to round back any punch that comes in 5 minutes late to the last quarter hour and round forward any punch that is 6 minutes or later.

Also, customers may want to use 12 minute rounding. They could do something like 12/6 which would be the “Nearest” type of rounding. But in this situation, the customer wants to have a 4 minute grace. If the employee clocks in at 7:28, it will round back to 7:24, 7:29 will round up to 7:36.




to the OWL.



You can define rounding for those times when an employee works an unscheduled shift. An employee is considered unscheduled if an in‐punch cannot be linked to a schedule.

RoundsRounds divide hours into equal segments, by minutes, so 60 is a multiple of the round. The most common are Quarter‐Hour (:15) and Tenth‐Hour (:06) Rounds.

GraceGrace determines when shift start and end times round to the previous increment, the next increment, and when they stay the same. Graces must be less than round amounts.

TransferTransfer Punch Round applies to labor account transfer punches and Work rule transfers. When employees transfer to accounts different from their home account or to a different work rule, these punches can be rounded differently.



If an employee transfers at 9:16 in the morning, and there is a transfer round and grace that rounds to the next quarter hour, then the transfer punch will round to 9:30.



Demo: Unscheduled Punch Round Rule The same employee’s punches who are rounded to the nearest tenth hour for the in punch and the out punch also have their unscheduled and transferred punches round to the nearest tenth hour. We will modify the existing tenth hour punch round rule to include the configuration for unscheduled and transferred punches.

1. First, while we are in Emma Employee’s timecard, let’s enter punches for yesterday – where there is no schedule. 9:02am‐5:07pm. The total hours for the day is 8 hours and 5 minutes because there is no rounding.

2. Go to the Setup link.3. Select Punch Round Rules from the Pay Policies Content Menu.4. Edit the In Out Nearest Tenth Hour Rule.5. Select the Unscheduled tab.6. Change the Unscheduled In Punch Round to 6 minutes. (0:06)7. Change the Unscheduled In Punch Grace to 3 minutes. (0:03)8. Change the Unscheduled Out Punch Round to 6 minutes. (0:06)9. Change the Out Punch Grace to 3 minutes (0:03)10. Click Save & Return

11. This Rule is already assigned to the Work Rule. Go to Emma Employee’s Timecard again.

12. Double click on one of the punches in the timecard to force the system to calculate the punches again – Click OK.

13. Save the Timecard.14. Notice that yesterday now has 8 hours and 06 minutes based on the rounding

rules.15. Select the Reports option in the Timecard and select Rule Analysis 16. Notice the punches referenced for yesterday and today have 9:00AM and

[9:02AM punch] The Actual Punch appears in brackets, the rounded punch times do not.




to the OWL.



When customers use the round change point, it means that they want to round the employees punches differently based on a window of time around their scheduled start and/or scheduled stop times. If employees try to consistently punch in early or punch out late they may earn overtime. These additional minutes of overtime can add up. The Round Change Point is another way to help prevent casual overtime.



Early In Punches can be rounded differently from Late In punches.• Employee Schedule 7am‐330pm.• 6:30‐7am should not be paid – generally these are non‐work activities.• Before 6:30 am rounds to the nearest quarter hour.• Late punches (after 7am) rounds to the next quarter hour.

Employees work the 7:00am‐to‐3:30pm shift come in a half hour early (between 6:30am and 7:00am) for their morning coffee. Their punches should be rounded up to the start time of 7:00am. This is because the employees should not be paid for early non‐work activities. However, if an employee arrives earlier than 6:30am, most likely that employee was asked to be early; in this case, the punch should round to the nearest quarter hour.

In other words when there are two rounding conditions on the same type of punch a change point is required. When you define a change point the Inside round and grace fields are activated. The inside round and grace tells Workforce Timekeeper how to round punches “inside” the change point. Punches that occur earlier or later (depending on what you are configuring) than the change point would be the “outside” round and grace.

In addition, if an employee punches in late (any time after 7am), then the punch should round up to the next quarter hour.



From this example you see there are two rounds required on the early side of the scheduled start time, and one round required on the late side. There are two types of rounding: inside and outside. The outside round, which by default is always active, is the round most distant from the scheduled time. If there are two rounds, then the inside round covers the space between the outside round and the scheduled time.

The inside round is established by configuring a change point‐the time in between the inside and outside rounds‐which are measured from the scheduled start time or end time. The inside round becomes active only when a change point has been defined. The change point is programmed as hours and minutes and must be a multiple of the rounding scheme. (For example, with quarter‐hour rounding, valid change point values are :15, :30, :45, 1:00, etc.)



Demo: Configure Round Change Point

The policy is being clarified that the same employee’s punches who are rounded to the nearest tenth hour for the in punch and the out punch have slightly different requirements. Employees who arrive to work and punch in early are paid from the nearest tenth hour. If they punch in up to six minutes after their scheduled start they are paid to the previous tenth hour. If they swipe in six minutes after their scheduled start, they are paid to the next tenth hour.

If employees punch out early they are paid to the nearest tenth hour. When they punch out six minutes after their scheduled end time, they are only paid to their scheduled end time. Employees who punch out more than six minutes after their scheduled end time will have their time rounded to the nearest tenth hour.

1. Continue logged in as SuperUser and go to the Setup link.2. Go to Punch Round Rules in the Pay Policies Content Menu.3. Edit the In Out Nearest Tenth Hour Punch Round Rule.4. Employees who arrive to work and punch in early are paid from the nearest tenth hour.

This requirement has not changed and we will leave it the way it is configured.5. When an employee comes in late, they are paid one way for the first six minutes and a

different way when they punch in more than 6 minutes late. The 6 minute mark is the point where their round rules should change. Set the Late Punch Rounding Change Point to 6 minutes (0:06)



6. If the employees are up to 6 minutes late, the employee is paid to the previous tenth hour (their scheduled start time). Set the Inside Round to 6 Minutes. (0:06)

7. Since the employee should be paid to the previous tenth our, we will set the Inside Grace to 5 minutes. (0:05) This means that the employee can punch in up to 5 minutes late and have their punch rounded back to their scheduled start.

8. When employees punch in more than 6 minutes late, they should round to the nearest tenth of an hour. This is already set correctly. Example: If the employee is scheduled for a 7a start and they punch in from 7:00 to 7:05, they will be paid from 7:00. If they punch in at 7:06, they are paid starting at 7:06 and if they punch in from 7:07, 7:08, or 7:09 is rounded back to 7:06. 7:10 and 7:11 are rounded forward to 7:12.

9. Now we'll configure the out punches. click on the Out‐Punch Tab. Based upon the new requirements, the early punch rounding is fine, but we need to change the late punch rounding. Clock out up to 6 minutes after their scheduled end time their punch should round backward to their scheduled end. Punch out more than 6 minutes late, their punch should round to the nearest tenth of an hour.

10. Set the Late Punch Rounding Change Point to 6 minutes (0:06)11. Now that we have a change point, we can edit the inside round rule, or the area that

controls the first 6 minutes. The punch should round back to the previous tenth hour, enter the Inside Round value of 6 minutes. (0:06)

12. Since the punch is going backwards, we need to set the grace value to 5 minutes. (0:05)13. Out Punches greater than 6 minutes late will continue to be rounded to the nearest

tenth hour.Example: If the employee is scheduled to leave at 3p and they leave between 3:00 and 3:05, the will stop being paid starting at 3pm If they punch out between 3:07 to 3:09, they will stop being paid at 3:06. and lastly, If they punch out between 3:10 and 3:11, they will stop being paid at 3:12.

14. We now need to rename the Round Rule to reflect our changes. We will modify the name to be In Out RCP Tenth Hour

15. Save and Return 16. Go back to Emma Employee’s Timecard17. Change the punches for Today (where there is a schedule) to 9:04am – 5:05pm Both of

these punches are inside of the round change point and will be rounded to the previous tenth.

9:04 am rounds to 9:00 am (the previous tenth)5:05 pm rounds to 5:00 pm (the previous tenth)

6. Change the punches for Today to 9:07am – 5:17pm. Both of these punches are outside the round change point and will be rounded to the nearest tenth.

9:07 am rounds to 9:06 am (the nearest tenth)5:17 pm rounds to 5:18 pm (the nearest tenth)



There are some labs to perform and questions to answer related to this module. These will be found in the OWL (http://owl.kronos.com).Once these questions have been answered, move on to the next module.



Punch Round Rules

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