Glossary · Time and attendance
Buddy punching
Buddy punching is when one worker records time for another worker who is not there, so the absent worker is paid for time not worked. It can be a shared PIN, a signed-in name or a foreman writing a crew's start time, and it happens on paper as often as on a clock.
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How does buddy punching work?
Buddy punching works wherever one person can record a time for someone else without the system noticing. The record says the worker was present. Nothing in the record proves it.
- Shared credentials. A PIN, card or phone login that more than one person knows or holds.
- Written entries. A sign-in sheet or a foreman's time card where one hand writes for several people.
- Remote punching. A phone app that lets a worker tap in from the parking lot of another site, or from home.
The term describes the act, not the motive. A coworker covering ten minutes of traffic and a person who never worked a day are both buddy punching under the definition, but they are very different problems for a company to handle.
What does buddy punching look like on a jobsite?
A 7:00 start at a tenant improvement job
- Actual arrival, journeyman A
- 6:55 AM
- Actual arrival, journeyman B
- 7:18 AM (stuck behind a ramp closure)
- Time recorded for B on the trailer clock
- 6:59 AM, entered by A with a shared PIN
- Time paid for B that was not worked
- 19 minutes
Illustrative numbers. Nineteen minutes is small once. Repeated on every shift it becomes a line on the labor budget.
Frequently asked questions
Is buddy punching illegal?
Does buddy punching only happen on time clocks?
How is buddy punching different from time theft?
Keep reading
- GuideBuddy punching in constructionHow it happens on real jobs, how to spot it and how to handle it fairly.
- SolutionPrevent buddy punchingHow a company-issued badge changes who can record time.
- GlossaryTime theftThe wider category buddy punching belongs to.
- CompareBadge vs biometric time clockTwo ways to tie a time record to one person.
