Notification types
Clock-In Reminder
Sent to Non-Exempt employees before their typical shift start. FieldTime learns each employee’s usual start time from their punch history and uses it to schedule the reminder.
Meal Break Reminder
Sent to Non-Exempt employees during a shift when their usual meal break window is approaching. Only fires for shifts 6 hours or longer.
Clock-Out Reminder
Sent to Non-Exempt employees when their usual shift end time is approaching, based on their learned shift profile.
Daily Time Entry
Sent to Exempt employees each workday at the configured notification hour as a reminder to add a manual time entry for that day.
Timesheet Submit
Sent to all employees on Monday mornings at the configured notification hour, reminding them to review and submit the prior week’s timesheet. Skipped automatically if the prior week’s timesheet is already submitted or beyond.
How FieldTime learns shift patterns
For Non-Exempt employees, FieldTime builds a typical shift profile from the employee’s last 20 completed punch entries. It uses a weighted median to determine the usual clock-in time, shift duration, and meal break offset — more recent entries count more heavily. The profile updates automatically every 12 hours while the employee is active. Employees need at least 2 completed punch entries before shift-based reminders are scheduled. Exempt employees do not have a shift profile. Their notifications are fixed to the daily notification hour you configure.Global notification settings
Go to Admin → Notifications to configure the system-wide defaults that apply to all employees.Lead times
Lead times control how many minutes before the expected event a reminder is sent. FieldTime adds or subtracts the lead time from the learned event time when scheduling each notification.| Setting | Default | Valid range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock-In Lead Minutes | 15 min | 0 – 240 min | How early to send the clock-in reminder before the employee’s expected shift start. |
| Meal Break Lead Minutes | 10 min | 0 – 240 min | How early to send the meal break reminder before the expected meal break window. |
| Clock-Out Lead Minutes | 10 min | 0 – 240 min | How early to send the clock-out reminder before the expected shift end. |
Monday timesheet notification hour
The Monday Timesheet Hour sets the hour of day (0–23, local business time) at which the timesheet submission reminder and the daily time-entry reminder fire on Monday mornings. The default is 8 (8:00 AM). On all other weekdays, the daily time-entry reminder for Exempt employees fires at this same hour.Enabling and disabling notifications per employee
Employees control their own notification preferences from their Profile page:- Browser Notifications — enables or disables in-browser push notifications delivered through the PWA.
- Email Notifications — enables or disables email-based reminders (when configured by your organization).
Push notifications require employees to install the FieldTime mobile Progressive Web App (PWA) and grant notification permission when prompted. Employees who access FieldTime only through a desktop browser can still receive browser notifications in that browser, but mobile push delivery requires the PWA to be added to the home screen on their device.
How the notification scheduler works
The FieldTime notification scheduler runs automatically every 15 minutes on the server. Each cycle it:- Loads all active employees who have browser notifications enabled (up to 200 per batch).
- For each employee, refreshes their notification schedule for the next 36 hours based on their shift profile and the current global settings.
- Creates or updates scheduled notification records so each unique notification type + time combination is only stored once.
SKIPPED when the employee’s client app checks them. Employees can also snooze a notification (up to 240 minutes) or dismiss it entirely from the FieldTime app.
Notification channels
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| Browser (PWA push) | Delivered as a native push notification on the employee’s device via the FieldTime PWA. Requires the PWA to be installed and notification permission to be granted. |
| Transactional email sent via the configured email provider. Currently used for VP sync failure alerts and employee welcome invites. |
Troubleshooting notifications
Employee not receiving reminders
Check that the employee’s Browser Notifications toggle is enabled in their profile, that they have granted notification permission in their browser or PWA, and that they have at least 2 completed punch entries (for Non-Exempt shift reminders).
Reminders firing at the wrong time
The shift profile is learned from recent punch history. If an employee has changed their schedule, the profile updates within 12 hours of their next completed punch. Adjusting the global lead-time settings also immediately affects the next scheduled batch.
Timesheet reminder not firing
Confirm the employee’s prior-week timesheet is not already in Submitted, In Review, Approved, or Locked status — FieldTime skips the reminder automatically when the timesheet is already submitted or beyond.
Monday reminder sent at wrong hour
Check the Monday Timesheet Hour in Admin → Notifications. Times are interpreted in the FieldTime business timezone configured on your server, not the employee’s local time.