Shift Management on the MK3000 Time Clock
Shifts on the MK3000 define the daily work schedule for your employees, including start times, lunch breaks, end times, grace periods, cutoff times, and punch rules. These shift settings control how punches are interpreted, how late or early punches display on time cards, and how the device handles overnight work, duplicate punches, and required punch times.
This article will walk you through the shift management functions on your new MK3000 time clock and link to exact steps for completing each task. Use the links below to jump to a specific section:
Creating and Editing Shifts
You have two methods of creating and editing shifts:
- Editing Shifts in Excel
- Editing Shifts on the Time Clock
Editing Shifts in Excel
Using Excel is the recommended way to set up and update shifts. To edit shifts in excel, you will download the Shift Setup Sheet from the time clock to the USB drive, edit it on your computer, and then upload the updated shifts from the USB drive back to your time clock.
Important: Do not change the file name (01SHIFT.XLS). The MK3000 will not recognize the file if the name or type of file is modified.
To set cutoff times, hour types, and shift times in Excel, refer to the instructions at the top of the Shift Setup Sheet. Cutoff Time should remain at 0:00 unless employees work past midnight, in which case you’ll update the cutoff per shift.
For more information and exact steps, see Edit Shifts in Excel for the MK3000.
Editing Shifts on the Time Clock
While Excel is easier, you can also edit shifts directly on the MK3000. This is helpful for small adjustments or when a computer isn’t available.
You’ll enter the menu, choose a shift, and use the numeric keypad to update names, times, and hour types.
For step-by-step instructions, see Edit Shifts on the MK3000.
Cutoff Time
The Cutoff Time is a shift‑level setting that defines when a new workday begins. It determines which workday a punch belongs to and ensures overnight punches are assigned to the correct date.
For companies that do not have overnight shifts, the workday typically begins at 12:00AM (0:00). Some companies, however, may have employees who work overnight shifts and want punches to be assigned to the appropriate work day.
Example:
If the cutoff is set to 22:00 (10:00 PM), a punch in at 10:05PM will appear on the next day in the time card.
Note: Employees must be set to the shift for the cutoff time to apply.
Setting Cutoff Times
The Cutoff Time setting can be edited in the Cutoff time column of the Shift Setup Sheet or in the shift settings on the device. Cutoff times can be changed per shift and by default are set to 00:00 (or 12:00AM).
For exact steps, see:
Late Arrivals and Early Departures
Late Arrival and Early Leave rules allow you to set grace periods in minutes for each shift. This setting is set on the device in the Atten rules menu option of the Shift menu on the time clock.
This setting lets employees clock in a few minutes late or leave a few minutes early without punches appearing in red. Punches outside the grace window display in red on the time card, helping managers quickly identify attendance issues.
These rules are used with shifts so when an employee punches later than their shift start time and earlier than the end time thresholds, the punch will be red on the time card. When the employee’s arrival and leave time exceed the grace period, their punches will be treated as late and early. This allows managers to quickly isolate punches that are outside of the company’s attendance policies or procedures.
If you do not want irregular punches highlighted, or you have more than 5 shifts, you can simply assign an employee to shift zero (0). Shift zero will print all the employee’s punches in black.
For more information and exact steps, see Set Grace Periods on the MK3000.
Repeat Verify
The Repeat Verify (Re-Verify) setting prevents duplicate punches if employees punch multiple times within a short period. This setting can be found in the Atten rules menu option of the Shift menu on the time clock.
You can adjust the Re-Verify setting to prevent a second punch within a defined number of minutes. The default is 5 minutes.
Example:
If Repeat Verify is set to 5 minutes and an employee punches in at 8:00 AM, the time clock will not save their punch again until 8:05 AM.
For more information and exact steps, see Prevent Duplicate Punches on the MK3000.
AutoSign
The AutoSign feature allows you to define specific times of day when employees must punch in or out. This setting can be found in the Atten rules menu option of the Shift menu on the time clock.
This setting requires employees to punch at specific times and any punches outside those times mark the employee as absent. The AutoSign setting will apply to all punches allowing you to enforce strict attendance rules.
For more information, see AutoSign on the MK3000.