How to Lock / Unlock timesheet (Updated)

Modified on Thu, 5 Mar at 7:53 PM

This guide explains how Administrators can lock and unlock timesheets, how permissions are configured, and the impact on employees, approvers, and imports.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Overview

The Lock Timesheet feature allows Admins to prevent employee-side changes within a selected period.

Locking a timesheet provides stronger control over when attendance records should stop being updated, typically before payroll processing.

Once locked:

Employees cannot edit, add, or clock in within the locked dates.
Imported records cannot override locked dates.
Bulk schedule population will not update locked records.

2. Permission Setup

New Permission

A new attendance permission has been introduced:

Lock timesheet for payroll

This permission controls whether a user can access the lock timesheet action.

It can be found under: Settings > Access Control > System Functions > Attendance > Lock timesheet for payroll

Permission Dependency

The Lock timesheet for payroll permission depends on:

View timesheet of other employees

This means:

The user must first have View timesheet of other employees enabled.
Only then can Lock timesheet for payroll be selected.
If “View timesheet of other employees” is not enabled, the lock permission will remain unavailable.

3. Lock Timesheet

Where Admin can find Lock Timesheets

Admins can lock timesheets from two locations:

1. Tracker Page (Main View)

From the main Tracker page, Admins can lock timesheets for a selected period.

Important:

Employees affected are determined by Access Control scope.
It is not based on filters currently applied on the Tracker page.

2. Individual Employee Timesheet View

After opening a specific employee’s timesheet from the Tracker page, Admins can lock the selected period for that employee only.

This allows flexibility to lock:

At a broader tracker level
At an individual employee level

Populate with Schedule (Before Locking)

Before locking a timesheet, Admins can use Populate with schedule to generate timesheet entries based on the assigned work schedule.

This allows Admins to:

Prefill attendance records in bulk
Review generated entries
Save entries before locking

If overtime is detected, the system will continue applying the configured overtime rules.

Once locked, schedule population will no longer update the locked period.

Lock Process

Admins can lock a selected timesheet period from the Tracker page

When locking a timesheet, the Admin must select:

The period to lock
How to handle pending approval requests in progress

The system requires the Admin to decide how pending requests should be processed before completing the lock.

Once confirmed:

The timesheet period becomes locked.
Employee-side updates are restricted.

4. Impact of Locked Timesheet

Employee View (Employee POV)

When a timesheet is locked, employees cannot make changes within the locked dates.

This includes:

Automatic Attendance

Cannot adjust entries within locked period
Cannot clock in on locked dates
System will block clock-in attempts and display a validation message

Manual Attendance

Cannot create new manual time entries
System will block saving attempts and display a validation message

In summary, employees cannot:

Edit existing entries
Create new entries
Clock in on locked dates

Approver POV

If there are approval-related requests tied to the locked period:

their handling depends on how the admin chose to process pending requests during the lock action
approvers may no longer need to act on requests that were resolved as part of locking

This is why the lock flow asks the admin how to process pending approval requests before the lock is completed.

Impact on Import for Locked Timesheet

Admins may still attempt to import timesheet records for a locked period.

However:

Imported rows cannot override locked dates.
If an imported record falls on a locked date:
- The import will fail for that row.
- The locked record will not be overwritten.
- A validation error will be returned.

Error message:

Fail! Timesheet is locked on the date of imported record

Admin Populate Schedule After Lock

After a timesheet is locked:

The Populate with schedule option may still be visible.
However, data for the locked period will be ignored.
Locked timesheets will not be updated.

This ensures locked records remain protected from bulk updates.

Admin Create New Time on Locked Timesheet

Admins may attempt to add a new manual time entry from the Tracker page.

However:

The system validates the selected date.
If the date falls within a locked period:
- The entry cannot be created.
- A validation error will be displayed.