Playbook

Buddy punching: when one employee marks attendance for another.

Proxy attendance is the most common attendance fraud, and the easiest to stop.

The problem

A colleague signs the register, punches a card or replies “present” for someone who is not there.

The playbook

  1. Require a live selfie at every check-in.
  2. Require live location inside the site’s geofence.
  3. Use one-to-one check-ins, not group messages.
  4. Review check-ins refused outside the geofence.
  5. Make the policy and its consequences clear.

How to measure it

Refused check-ins outside the geofence per site per week, and disputes raised at payroll.

How Xforce does it

Xforce runs attendance, leave, tasks and payroll inside WhatsApp. Employees check in by sharing their live location, which must fall inside the geofence set for that site, and a live selfie; Xforce records the time and asks for a reason if they are late or leave early. Leave is applied for in a WhatsApp flow and approved with one tap; tasks are typed in plain language and closed with photo or file proof; payroll is generated in one click from the hours actually tracked, and payslips arrive in the chat as PDFs. It replies in English, Hindi or Marathi, and managers use a web portal with role-based access.

Questions

What is buddy punching?

When one employee records attendance for another who is not present.

How do I prevent proxy attendance?

Require a live selfie and live location inside the site’s geofence at every check-in, done one-to-one rather than in a group.

See it on your own data. Xforce runs attendance with selfie and geofence, leave, tasks and payroll inside WhatsApp. Book a 30-minute working session with an engineer.

General guidance, current as of the date above. Labour-law and statutory rules vary; confirm them with your payroll adviser.