Company-issued time tracking device
Keep timekeeping off your workers' personal phones.
A company-issued time tracking device keeps timekeeping hardware on the company's side of the ledger. When a job requires workers to clock in on their own phones, the company can take on reimbursement duties in some states, privacy questions about apps on personal devices, and timesheets that depend on someone's battery. ZeroBadge issues each worker a badge with its own cellular connection. The company owns it, pays for it and charges it, and the worker's phone is never involved.
This page covers the cost and policy side of bring-your-own-device timekeeping. This is general information, not legal advice.
- Nothing installed on personal phones
- Company-owned, company-charged
- Off between shifts
Mon Oct 5
Power on
6:51 AM
Power off
2:51 PM
Priya S.
Journeyman pipefitter · Riverside crew
- Powered on
- 6:51 AM · clock-in
- Location
- Riverside
- Powered off
- 2:51 PM · clock-out
- Recorded
- 8h
- Personal phone
- Not used
- PIN or kiosk
- None
What BYOD timekeeping takes on
A required personal phone turns timekeeping into a phone policy.
Bring-your-own-device looks free because the company didn't buy anything. The cost shows up in reimbursement, permissions and the days the phone isn't there.
Reimbursement
In some states, an expense the job requires is the employer's to cover. A phone the worker must use to clock in can fall into that category.
Privacy and app permissions
Background location set to always allow, an employer's app next to family photos, and questions about what the office can see after hours. Plenty of workers say no.
Dead phones
Navigation on the drive in, calls all morning, and the timesheet ends when the battery does. The foreman fills in the rest from memory.
Workers without smartphones
Prepaid flip phones, older phones that can't run the current app version, a phone shared with family. Each one becomes a manual exception.
Offboarding
When someone leaves, the app, its login and its permissions stay on a phone the company doesn't control until someone remembers to revoke access.
California
In California, a phone the job requires is a reimbursable business expense.
California Labor Code section 2802(a) requires an employer to indemnify employees for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred in direct consequence of the discharge of their duties. In Cochran v. Schwan's Home Service, Inc. (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 1137, the Court of Appeal held that when employees must use personal cell phones for work-related calls, the employer must reimburse a reasonable percentage of the phone bill, whether the plan has unlimited or limited minutes. Cochran concerned calls; how it applies to a required timekeeping app depends on the facts.
This is general information, not legal advice. Other states differ. Sources: Cal. Lab. Code section 2802; Cochran v. Schwan's Home Service, Inc. (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 1137.
Other states and federal law
Reimbursement rules differ by state, so check yours before choosing.
A few rules worth knowing before you require a personal phone for clocking in.
Illinois
820 ILCS 115/9.5 requires employers to reimburse necessary expenditures incurred within the scope of employment that primarily benefit the employer. The employer is liable only where it authorized or required the expense, employees generally submit within 30 calendar days, and a written policy can set limits but cannot provide no or only de minimis reimbursement.
Federal minimum wage
Under 29 CFR 531.35, when an employer requires employees to provide tools for the job, the cost cannot cut into the minimum or overtime wages owed for the workweek. That matters most for lower-paid workers.
Other states and agreements
Several other states and some cities have their own expense rules, and collective bargaining agreements may address phones and tracking. A rule that applies in one state may not apply in the next.
Not legal advice
This is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and their application depends on the facts. Confirm your obligations with employment counsel in each state where you have crews.
Last checked against the primary sources on 2026-10-29.
Options compared
Personal phones, stipends, company phones, site clocks and badges.
Every option here records time. They differ in who buys the device, what lands on a personal phone and what the company has to manage.
| Compare | ZeroBadgeCompany badge | Personal phoneApp, no stipend | Phone + stipendApp, monthly allowance | Company phoneIssued smartphone | Site clockKiosk at the site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who buys the device | Company | Worker | Worker, company contributes | Company | Company |
| Reimbursement question | None for timekeeping | Open in states that require it | Addressed if the amount is reasonable | None | None |
| App on a personal device | No | Yes, with location permission | Yes, with location permission | No | No |
| Worker without a smartphone | Same badge as everyone | Needs a manual workaround | Needs a manual workaround | Works, after some training | Works |
| When the battery runs out | Company charging routine, alert at 25% | The record stops with the phone | The record stops with the phone | Same risk, on a company phone | One device per site to keep powered |
| Time between jobsites | Recorded until power-off | While location is on | While location is on | While location is on | Not recorded |
| What the company manages | Badges: assign, charge, recover | App support across many phones | A stipend policy and payroll line | Phones, plans, device management | A device at every site |
Compare ZeroBadge with
| ZeroBadge | BYOD |
|---|---|
| Who buys the device | |
| Company | Worker |
| Reimbursement question | |
| None for timekeeping | Open in states that require it |
| App on a personal device | |
| No | Yes, with location permission |
| Worker without a smartphone | |
| Same badge as everyone | Needs a manual workaround |
| When the battery runs out | |
| Company charging routine, alert at 25% | The record stops with the phone |
| Time between jobsites | |
| Recorded until power-off | While location is on |
| What the company manages | |
| Badges: assign, charge, recover | App support across many phones |
The tradeoff
A company smartphone does far more than keep time: calls, photos, drawings, daily reports. If your crews need those, a company phone may be the better buy, and a badge doesn't replace it. A badge is single-purpose: it records shifts and nothing else. It is still company hardware that someone has to assign, charge and collect when people leave.
Three situations
Three ordinary situations with a personal phone and with a company badge.
The difference rarely shows on the first day. It shows on the days something goes slightly wrong.
6:10 AM. A first-year apprentice's phone died on the drive in after an hour of navigation.
With a personal phone
No clock-in until he borrows a charger. The foreman writes 6:00 from memory and the office takes his word for it.
With a company badge
The badge charged at the shop overnight. It powered on at 6:02 and the shift is on the record.
Monday. A new laborer starts with a prepaid flip phone.
With a personal phone
The app won't install. The foreman clocks him in by hand every day, and his hours become the crew's standing exception.
With a company badge
He gets the same badge as everyone else. Nothing to install, nothing to log into.
Friday, 3:30 PM. A finisher works his last day before moving to another company.
With a personal phone
The app, its login and its location permission stay on his phone until someone remembers to remove his access.
With a company badge
He hands back the badge. The office unassigns it, and his history stays with his worker record.
Privacy with a company badge
The badge records paid shifts on company hardware, and nothing else.
Moving timekeeping to a company device also settles the privacy question most crews raise first. Nothing is installed on a personal phone, so nothing keeps running after the shift on something the worker carries home in their pocket.
The badge has its own cellular connection. It never uses the worker's data plan or the site's Wi-Fi password. For the wider legal picture on location records, see is it legal to GPS track employees.
Paid shifts only
Power on starts the shift and power off ends it. Badges are off between shifts.
Jobsite, not room
Location answers which jobsite a worker is at, not where inside it.
Limited retention
Raw location history is deleted after 90 days. Timesheets are kept.
Workers see their own hours
An optional web portal shows workers their hours and lets them request corrections.
Tue Oct 6
- 6:30 AMShop & OfficeClocked in at the shop, loaded fittingsOn site · 25m
- 6:55 AMTransit to RiversideDrive to Riverside Medical PavilionTransit · 40m
- 7:35 AMRiverside Medical PavilionCrew hand-over with Marcus T.On site · 45m
- 8:20 AMTransit to Cascade SupplyDrive to Cascade Supply Co.Transit · 25m
- 8:45 AMCascade Supply Co.Vendor stop: valve pickupVendor · 25m
- 9:10 AMTransit to Harbor YardDrive to Harbor YardTransit · 30m
- 9:40 AMHarbor Yard Distribution CenterOn site with the Harbor Yard crewOn site · 6h 10m
Switching from BYOD
Moving from personal phones to company badges in four steps.
Most of the work is in the office. For crews, the change is mostly one app they can delete.
- 01
Take stock of today
List who clocks in on a personal phone, who can't, and any phone stipends you pay now. That's your baseline.Office
- 02
Assign badges and a charging routine
One badge per worker, a set charging place and schedule. Low-battery alerts at 25% go to the office, not the worker.Office + foremen
- 03
Run one pay period side by side
Keep the app for one period and compare. Differences usually point to dead phones and forgotten punches.One pay period
- 04
Retire the app for timekeeping
Tell crews they can remove it, update your written expense and timekeeping policies, and check any stipend change with counsel.Policy
ZeroBadge AI
Ask ZeroBadge AI about your company badge records
With company-issued badges, the records belong to the company, and ZeroBadge AI works only from those records. Ask a plain-English question, follow any number back to its source, and keep access limited to the admins you choose. It cannot change anything.
You ask
How many workers had a badge shift on every scheduled day this week?
31 of 36. Of the other five, two had approved time off and three missed a day with no badge record.
You ask
Which badges are low on battery right now?
Four are under 20%: two are on shift at the Elm Street warehouse and two are in the office. The list shows each badge's level and the time of its last report.
You ask
Which badges have not reported since yesterday?
Two. One was marked lost on Monday and is still assigned to a worker. The other last reported at 3:52 PM yesterday, when its shift ended and it was powered off.
Answers come only from your company's own records. Every number links to the records behind it. Read-only; admins control access.
How ZeroBadge AI worksQuestions
Questions about company-issued devices and BYOD timekeeping.
Does requiring a time clock app on personal phones create a reimbursement duty?
Is a monthly phone stipend enough?
Can I require workers to install an app on their own phone?
Why not issue company smartphones instead?
Does the badge use the worker's data plan or the site's Wi-Fi?
Keep exploring
Next: reimbursement, stipends and phone-free tracking.
- SolutionTime tracking without phonesA company-managed badge instead of an app on a worker's personal phone.
- SolutionCell phone reimbursement in CaliforniaLabor Code section 2802 and Cochran, explained for employers with field crews.
- SolutionPhone stipend calculatorWork out what a phone stipend costs across your crew.
- SolutionTime clocks for employees without smartphonesOptions for crews where not everyone carries a smartphone.
- SolutionIs it legal to GPS track employees?Consent, notice and state rules for location records at work.
- Platform tourThe platformA walkthrough of what the office sees: crews, jobsites, timesheets, analytics and payroll.
This is general information, not legal advice. Laws differ by state and change over time.
Last updated
Sources
- 1.California Labor Code section 2802 · California Legislative Information
- 2.Cochran v. Schwan's Home Service, Inc. (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 1137, Court of Appeal opinion B247160 · California Courts
- 3.820 ILCS 115/9.5, Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act: reimbursement of employee expenses · Illinois General Assembly
- 4.29 CFR 531.35, "Free and clear" payment; "kickbacks" · eCFR, US National Archives
Get started
Take timekeeping off personal phones.
We'll show you the badge, the charging routine and the record it produces, using your own crews and jobsites.
What we will walk through
- 01Badge assignment, spares and recovery
- 02What workers see in the optional portal
- 03How approved hours reach your payroll provider