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Clockify can support an employer’s timekeeping records, but it does not make an employer FLSA-compliant by itself. For covered U.S. nonexempt employees, federal law requires accurate records of hours and wages; it does not require a particular timekeeping format or a time clock. The employer remains responsible for complete records, appropriate retention, and compliance with any stricter state, local, industry, contract, or non-U.S. rules.
What the FLSA requires employers to record
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) says covered employers must maintain accurate records for each covered nonexempt employee. The required information includes identifying details, the workweek start, hours worked each day and week, the wage basis, regular rate, straight-time and overtime earnings, additions to or deductions from wages, total wages, and the payment date and period. A time-tracking report may supply some of this information, but employers may need other payroll or personnel records to complete the required set. DOL Fact Sheet #21
The DOL’s summary is: “Any timekeeping plan is acceptable as long as it is complete and accurate.” Employers may use a time clock, have a timekeeper record hours, or have workers write their own time. The law does not prescribe one form. Fact Sheet #21 is general agency guidance, not a substitute for the regulations or a certification of any software.
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Yes, Clockify may be used as part of an employee timekeeping workflow if the employer configures and operates it to capture actual hours accurately and can retain and produce the records. Clockify’s April 18, 2023 article describes features including hour and overtime tracking, customizable employee fields, date-range reports, report exports, timesheet approvals and locks, required fields, and an audit log for tracing changes. These are vendor descriptions, not a DOL endorsement or a legal finding that an employer’s process complies. Availability can depend on the current plan and workspace settings. Clockify’s timekeeping compliance article
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A report is useful only to the extent the whole process is sound. Check that time entries reflect all work, corrections and approvals are handled clearly, required employee and wage information is maintained, records are retained for the relevant period, and the employer can provide them when requested. The DOL’s Handy Reference Guide likewise says records need not take a particular form and that time clocks are not required.
How to assess a timekeeping workflow
Clockify is one possible method; the federal guidance does not name a universally best one. Evaluate Clockify or another workflow against these practical checks:
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- 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Our Punch Card Attendance Machine comes with a large 4" LED screen for clear visibility. Track your employees' start times, break times, lunch periods, and weekly work hours with precision, up to 6 entries per day. Each card holds 15 days of records per side, just flip for continuous tracking. Supports Dual-color printing, black for normal attendance, red for late or early departure, and a built-in speaker provide clear alerts, ensuring seamless and efficient workforce track & time management.
- 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗭𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘: This attendance machine supports 6 major U.S. time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, and Hawaii. Employees across different regions can be tracked accurately without confusion. Perfect for offices with multi-location teams.
- 𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗗𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧: The employee time clock automatically switches between Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time. It handles spring forward and fall back changes seamlessly. This ensures precise timekeeping year-round without manual adjustments.
- 𝗔𝗣𝗣 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗗: This attendance machine comes with an easy-to-operate app for smarter management. The app also allows you to change between 6 major U.S. time zones, set Working Time, set Password, Print Format, Setup Paper, DST Setting, Music Time Setting, and other necessary attributes. NOTE: To calculate total workdays, late entries, leaves, and salary summaries, you need to do it manually from the punch card.
- 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛-𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗 & 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗬: Made of durable ABS material, this compact punch card time recorder withstands daily use. Equipped with a premium-grade print head rated for millions of strikes, it ensures long-lasting, reliable printing with a smooth, fade-resistant surface. Ideal for offices, shops, and small businesses.
- Complete hours: Can employees record all time actually worked, including time outside a planned schedule?
- Corrections and approvals: Can the employer identify changes, resolve discrepancies, and document approvals without obscuring the original record?
- Retention and production: Can authorized staff keep the records for the required period and retrieve them for inspection?
- Wage information: Are the wage basis, rates, overtime, deductions, and other required details captured in the timekeeping system or reliably maintained elsewhere?
- Employee access and privacy: Do workers understand what is collected and how they can review or report a problem with their entries?
- Additional rules: Do state or local law, an industry rule, a collective bargaining agreement, or a public contract impose extra requirements?
How long to keep timecards and payroll records
The DOL distinguishes payroll records from records used to compute wages. Under Fact Sheet #21, payroll records, collective bargaining agreements, and sales and purchase records must be preserved for at least three years. Records used to compute wages—including time cards and work or time schedules—must be kept for two years. Records must be open to inspection by DOL representatives. Apply any longer retention period required by other applicable rules or agreements. DOL Fact Sheet #21
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The DOL says rounding to the nearest five minutes, one-tenth of an hour, or one-quarter of an hour may be acceptable only when the method averages out over time and does not result in failing to count all time actually worked. Having a rounding setting in a time tracker does not by itself make its use lawful. Employers should examine actual hours and the results of rounding, and check for stricter jurisdiction-specific rules. DOL Hours Worked guidance
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- ADVANCED DATE STAMPING: Simplify document organization with built-in date stamp functionality, featuring preset messages and 3-way printing for efficient proof of receipt and processing.
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Exports, deletion risk, and monitoring settings
Make employer-controlled exports
Clockify’s help documentation says its Detailed Report can be exported to CSV, and says the service does not provide per-account recovery for entries users accidentally delete or overwrite. Its data management page recommends a monthly CSV export. Treat these as Clockify’s published statements, and confirm the current product behavior and report contents in your workspace. Assign someone to export records, store them in an access-controlled location, apply the employer’s retention rules, and periodically verify that the exports include the information needed for payroll and recordkeeping. Clockify data-loss guidance · Clockify data management guidance
Review tracking and privacy choices
Clockify says manual time entry is the default, while auto-tracking and idle detection are optional; it also says auto-tracking information stays local and visible to the user. The vendor describes screenshots and location tracking as administrator-enabled features that notify users, with location collection through the mobile app and device permissions and screenshots through the desktop app. Settings and behavior can change, so check current documentation and workspace configuration. Before enabling monitoring, assess applicable privacy and employment rules and explain the practice to employees as required. Clockify also describes AWS hosting and 256-bit SSL connections; those statements alone do not constitute a complete security or compliance assessment. Clockify data and tracking guidance · Clockify data management guidance
What to verify beyond federal guidance
This federal overview concerns FLSA-covered employment in the United States. State and local requirements, particular industries, collective bargaining agreements, public contracts, and non-U.S. law may impose additional rules. Clockify’s feature descriptions are not a determination of those requirements, and no jurisdiction-specific conclusion is possible without knowing where and how the employees work. For a public contract or another specialized regime, verify the current contract terms and primary authority rather than assuming a general timekeeping feature satisfies them.
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