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On-site clocking at events

In brief: A caterer has no fixed location. Every event takes place at a different address: a country estate, a hotel, a corporate space, a private garden. Hours must be tracked everywhere, without a fixed installation. This guide covers hour tracking at event venues: mobile check-in, geolocation, event-linked hours for billing and payroll. Shyfter turns every smartphone into a time clock.

The challenge of clocking without a fixed location

In a restaurant, the time clock is fixed to the wall. At a catering company, there is no wall. Monday, your team is in a manor house. Wednesday, in a loft in the city centre. Saturday, at a country estate and a hotel simultaneously.

Installing a physical time clock at each event venue makes no sense. Transporting a clocking terminal from site to site is cumbersome and unreliable. A paper attendance sheet is a relic of the past: illegible, falsifiable, impossible to use for payroll.

The only viable solution for a caterer is mobile clocking. Each team member uses their smartphone to record their arrival and departure, wherever they are. Geolocation confirms they are actually at the event venue.

Why clocking is mandatory

The legal obligation

In Belgium, recording working time is mandatory in the hospitality sector (Joint Committee 302 — Belgian hospitality collective agreement). Each entry and exit of each worker must be logged. This applies to permanent staff and temporary workers alike. A caterer employing 30 temporary workers for an event must record 30 arrivals and 30 departures.

The labour inspectorate can check compliance with this obligation at any event venue. Absence of a clocking system is an infringement that can result in administrative penalties and a presumption of undeclared work.

The financial dimension

Beyond the legal obligation, accurate clocking is a profitability issue. Your temporary workers' hours are your main variable cost item. Without precisely measuring hours worked per event, you cannot calculate the actual staff cost per event, compare it to the budget in the client quote, identify profitable and unprofitable events, pay your temporary workers correctly (actual hours, not estimated), or apply the correct supplements (night, Sunday, public holiday).

Mobile clocking: how it works

Smartphone check-in

With Shyfter, each team member clocks in from their smartphone. The process is simple:

The temporary worker opens the Shyfter app
They select the event they are assigned to
They tap "Clock in"
The system records the exact time and GPS position
At the end of their assignment, they tap "Clock out"

Clocking takes 5 seconds. No queue at a terminal. No badge to forget. No paper sheet to find.

Geolocation

Geolocation associates each clocking entry with a geographic position. You define a perimeter around the event venue (e.g. 200 metres). A clock-in is only validated if the temporary worker's smartphone is within this perimeter. For events at new addresses, the event manager configures the GPS perimeter directly in the app before the team arrives.

QR code clocking

As a complement or alternative to GPS, QR code clocking is an option. The event manager generates a unique QR code for the event, printed or displayed on a screen. Each temporary worker scans the QR code on arrival. Useful in venues with weak GPS signal (basements, large buildings).

Linking hours to each event

Why linking is essential

At a catering company, hours are not just "working hours". They are linked to a specific event, for a specific client. This linking allows you to calculate staff cost per event, compare actuals to the budget in the quote, invoice the client accurately, analyse profitability by event type, and feed data into future quotes.

How it works in Shyfter

When a temporary worker clocks in, their hours are automatically linked to the event they are assigned to in the schedule. No manual entry, no after-the-fact assignment. The link between hours and event is established in real time.

At the end of the day, you have a summary per event: total hours worked, breakdown by role (servers, cooks, kitchen porters), start and end times for each person.

Simultaneous events

When you have multiple events on the same day, automatic linking is essential. Each temporary worker clocks in to "their" event. The hours from the wedding do not mix with those from the corporate cocktail. The consolidated view shows both events side by side, each with its own data.

Managing on-site situations

The late temporary worker

Mobile clocking records the exact arrival time. If a temporary worker was supposed to start at 4pm and clocks in at 4:25pm, the delay is immediately visible. The on-site manager is alerted. The 25 minutes of delay are automatically deducted from remuneration (unless the manager decides otherwise). This transparency naturally encourages punctuality.

The temporary worker who forgets to clock out

It can happen that a temporary worker forgets to clock out, caught up in end-of-evening tidying. The system sends an automatic reminder when the scheduled end time approaches. If a clock-in/out entry is missing, the event manager can enter it manually with a justification.

Network issues

Some event venues (rural estates, cellars, large tents) have limited network coverage. The Shyfter app works in offline mode: the clock-in is recorded locally on the smartphone with the exact time, even without an internet connection. As soon as the network is restored, data is synced automatically. The recorded time is the actual clock-in time, not the sync time.

From clocking to payroll

Automatic hour calculation

Clocking data feeds directly into payroll calculation:

Standard hours: hours worked at the base rate
Sunday hours: supplement automatically applied for Sunday work
Night hours: supplement for hours between midnight and 5am
Public holiday hours: doubled pay for legal public holidays

Shyfter applies these rules automatically based on the day and time of clocking. No more manual calculation, no more supplement errors.

Export to payroll provider

Validated hours are exported to your payroll provider via available integrations. The export file contains all necessary information: worker identity, hours worked, applicable supplements, contract type. Your payroll provider prepares payslips without re-entry.

Clocking as a management tool

Productivity analysis per event

Clocking data, crossed with event information (number of guests, type of service), allows you to analyse productivity: total hours per guest, ratio of planned vs actual hours (measures scheduling accuracy), average hourly cost per event. These data feed your future quotes and schedules.

Tracking temporary workers

Clocking reveals individual behaviours. You identify temporary workers who are always punctual, who stay until the end of teardown, and those who systematically leave early. This data enriches each temporary worker's profile in your pool and guides future assignments.

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FAQ

Is mobile clocking accepted by the labour inspectorate?

Yes. The labour inspectorate accepts electronic clocking systems, including mobile ones, provided they reliably and unalterably record the start and end times of each assignment. Geolocation adds an additional layer of proof. The key is that the system is operational, that data is retained and accessible in the event of an inspection.

How do you manage clocking when there is no network coverage at the event venue?

The Shyfter app works in offline mode. The clock-in is recorded locally on the smartphone with the exact time, even without an internet connection. As soon as the network is restored, data syncs automatically. QR code is an alternative that does not require an internet connection at the time of scanning.

Can mobile clocking be used to calculate staff cost per event?

This is precisely one of the main advantages. Each clock-in is linked to an event in the schedule. At the end of the assignment, you have actual hours per person and per event. Shyfter automatically applies rates and supplements (night, Sunday, public holidays) to calculate the total staff cost per event.

Other guides on the catering profession

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