Documents and records
Attendance register: the record every salary is checked against
An attendance register is the day-by-day record of who was present, absent, late or on leave across a wage period. Payroll is built from it: the payable days on a slip, the deduction for an unpaid day and the day count behind a wage worker's earnings all trace back to what the register says about each date.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Also called: attendance record, attendance sheet, daily attendance register
In plain English
It is the list that says who came to work on each day of the month. Every pay figure is worked out from that list, so a wrong entry becomes wrong pay.
How it works in detail
The notebook at the gate works until two people disagree about a date. A register earns its keep at the end of the month, when a supervisor remembers a Saturday one way, the worker remembers it another, and there is nothing to test either version against. So entries are made on the day, not reconstructed on the 30th, and each one needs a date, a name, an in time and an out time.
What an employer records past that varies. A shop with fixed timings may mark only present, absent and leave. A unit running shifts records the shift, the hours worked and any overtime hours on a separate line. Registers kept under labour rules also carry the wage period and the worker's signature or thumb impression. Whatever form you use, the register and the salary slip must show the same day count, and a correction has to go into both.
A worked example
The setup
For example, Latha works at a two-branch bakery on INR 20,800 a month, counted over 26 payable days in March. The register and her supervisor disagree on two dates.
The calculation
INR 20,800 / 26 = INR 800.00 per payable day. The register shows 24 days, so 24 x INR 800.00 = INR 19,200.00. With both disputed days restored, 26 x INR 800.00 = INR 20,800.00, a gap of INR 1,600.00.The result
The two dates are worth INR 1,600.00 to Latha. However the entry is settled, the register decides it, and the slip goes out with that same day count.
Common mistakes
- Filling the register once a week from memory. Days written down four days late are days nobody can defend, and one wrong entry moves the month's pay for that employee.
- Recording presence with no in and out time. Without the times, a half day, a late arrival and a full shift look identical when someone questions the month afterwards.
- Keeping a register for salaried staff and none for workers hired for a few weeks. Short-term workers are the ones whose day count gets disputed, and they need the same daily entry.
How VTClock handles it
Every geofenced check-in lands on the admin desk with a location pin, and admins can correct entries. VTClock makes no claim that this record satisfies a statutory register requirement.
Frequently asked questions
The app record and the gate register disagree on a date. Which one do I pay from?
Pay from whichever record you have named in writing as the one payroll uses, and correct the other to match on the same day. Running two records with equal standing guarantees an argument every month end. Fix the entry, note who corrected it and on what date, then let the slip carry that day count so all three agree.
How long should I keep attendance records after the month is paid?
The period is set by the rules that cover your establishment, and it differs by state and by the act you fall under, so confirm it with your consultant. As a working habit, store the register, the slips and the leave approvals for a month together in one place, because when someone asks for records they are usually asked for as a set.
Can a supervisor mark attendance for a worker who cannot write?
Yes, and registers kept under labour rules generally allow a thumb impression against the entry in place of a signature. The risk is a supervisor marking a whole crew from the office. Require the mark to be made in front of the worker on the day it relates to, and check a sample of entries against the people on site each week.
Do I need attendance for staff on a fixed monthly salary?
Yes. A monthly salary is still adjusted for unpaid absence, and the only way to work out what is payable for the month is a day-by-day record. It also settles leave balances, which are counted in days and drawn down from that same record. An employer with nothing written for salaried staff has no answer when one of them queries a deduction.
Related terms
- Muster rollA muster roll is the daily attendance register an employer keeps under labour rules, listing each worker by name with the days worked and the hours put in during a wage period.
- Payable daysPayable days are the number of days a monthly salary is spread across, and the number of days in a given month the employee is actually paid for.
- GPS attendanceGPS attendance is marking a working day from a phone, where the app reads the device's satellite position at the instant of the punch and stores it alongside the check-in time.
- Late markA late mark is the entry an employer records when an employee checks in after the shift start time and after whatever grace minutes the policy allows.
- Half dayA half day is a working day on which an employee is present for only part of the shift and is counted for half the day's pay.
- Weekly offA weekly off is the rest day in each week on which an employee is not required to work.
Modules that touch this
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