Time and attendance software Senegal employers use records employees’ arrival and departure times, calculates actual working time and overtime, then feeds payroll directly. The stakes changed in 2026: the new Labour Code, enacted on 3 September 2026, explicitly covers geolocation, badges and biometrics as monitoring devices. This guide explains what the law says, which technology to choose for your sites, how to handle weak connectivity, how to link clocking to payroll and how to roll the tool out without alienating teams.
What the 2026 Labour Code requires of time tracking
Law no. 2026-18 of 3 September 2026, published in the Official Journal no. 7931 of 17 September 2026, replaces the 1997 Code. Several articles directly concern the working time you will measure.
| Rule | Article | Consequence for the software |
|---|---|---|
| Legal working week of 40 hours; 2,304 hours a year on farms | 241 | Calculate overtime per week, or over the year for agriculture |
| Individual schedules allowed after informing the labour inspector and staff delegates | 242 | Handle different schedules per employee and carried-over hours |
| Part-time: hours at least one fifth below the legal or agreed working time | 243 | Track part-time contracts and their additional hours |
| Overtime paid at a premium, rates set by collective agreement or, failing that, by decree, with an annual quota | 244 | Apply your agreement’s rates and track the quota |
| Night work: between 10 pm and 5 am | 245 | Flag night hours automatically |
| Monitoring must be justified and proportionate, including geolocation, badges and biometrics | 23 and 24 | Choose the least intrusive clocking method that meets the need |
Regulations adopted under the old Code remain in force where they do not contradict the new one (article 461): check overtime premiums against your collective agreement rather than a generic scale.
Why paper time sheets reach their limits
A register or spreadsheet raises three problems once headcount passes a few dozen: errors when keying data each month, clocking in for an absent colleague, and no way to settle a dispute over hours for lack of a reliable record. These become costs: hours paid in error, disputed hours, admin time spent rebuilding records.
The new Code adds a proof issue: article 203 requires the payslip to show the calculation behind each pay element. Overtime without a reliable record becomes hard to justify.
QR code, GPS or badge: which technology for which site?
The choice depends on your organisation, not on the technology itself.
| Method | Principle | Suited to | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Badge or personal code | The employee swipes a badge at a terminal | Single site with one entry point | Badges lent to colleagues |
| QR code terminal | The employee scans a code displayed on site with a phone | Temporary sites, shops, multiple sites | A dynamic QR code prevents shared photos |
| Geolocated mobile clocking | The app checks the employee is within the site zone | Mobile teams, work at client premises | Limit location to the moment of clocking |
| Biometrics | Fingerprint or facial recognition | Strong authentication needs | CDP authorisation and proportionality |
The same time and attendance software Senegal teams use should combine these methods: a QR terminal at the Dakar head office, GPS for maintenance teams in Thiès or Saint-Louis, badges at an industrial site.
Should you choose biometric clocking?
Not necessarily. Biometric data falls under a stricter regime: under law no. 2008-12 on personal data, processing it requires authorisation from the CDP (Senegal’s personal data protection commission), as Osiris points out. Article 24 of the 2026 Code adds the requirement of proportionality to the purpose.
Ask what you really need: to formally authenticate a person, or to record attendance? In most cases a dynamic QR code or geolocated clocking is enough, with no authorisation process. The full framework is set out in our article on HR data protection in Senegal.
Remote sites and weak connectivity: the deal-breaker
This is what office-designed tools handle worst. A tool that needs a constant connection fails on a peri-urban site or in a rural area. Good time and attendance software Senegal firms can rely on records clocking offline, timestamps it on the phone and syncs as soon as the network returns, with no way to change the recorded time.
Test it on a real site, not in a demo at head office: turn off mobile data, clock in, restore the connection and check the time that comes through. For field work more broadly, our guide to digitising field operations completes this point.
How time and attendance software Senegal feeds payroll
The value of time tracking lies not in the record itself but in what happens next. The expected flow:
- The employee clocks in; anomalies (missed clock-in, lateness, early departure) go to the manager.
- The manager corrects or approves the weekly time sheet.
- The tool classifies hours: normal, overtime, night, Sunday or public holiday.
- Approved hours and absences go into payroll, with your agreement’s premiums.
- The payslip shows the calculation, as article 203 requires.
Without this link you keep double entry every month and the gaps that come with it. Our guide to payroll software in Senegal covers the calculation side.
Example: a cleaning company across twelve sites
As an illustration, take a cleaning company with 150 staff spread over twelve client sites in Dakar and Diamniadio, with night shifts. With a paper register per site, the operations manager spends several days a month collecting and re-keying sheets, and night hours are classified by hand. With time and attendance software Senegal-ready, using a dynamic QR code displayed at each client, staff clock in on their phones, hours between 10 pm and 5 am are flagged automatically, and team leaders approve anomalies every week. Payroll receives hours already classified and approved, and any dispute over a shift can be settled from the timestamped record rather than from memory.
Questions to ask a time and attendance software Senegal vendor
- Does clocking work offline, and can the employee change the recorded time?
- Is the QR code dynamic? Can the GPS zone of each site be configured?
- How does the tool separate normal, overtime and night hours (10 pm to 5 am)?
- Can we configure our collective agreement’s premiums and track the annual quota?
- How are individual schedules and part-time handled?
- Who sees location data, and how long is it kept?
- Do approved hours reach payroll with no export or re-keying?
Rolling out time and attendance software Senegal in five steps
- Inform. Explain the purpose to staff delegates and employees, and document why the chosen method is proportionate.
- Configure. Sites, GPS zones, schedules, shift patterns, premium rules and approval workflows.
- Pilot. One site for a month, alongside the existing register, to compare.
- Train. Managers first, since they approve anomalies.
- Extend. Site by site, then connect payroll once the pilot’s gaps are fixed.
Then track a few indicators: anomaly rate per site, time to approve time sheets, overtime volume per team and the gap between hours clocked and hours paid.
Review these figures with site managers every month during the first quarter. A high anomaly rate on one site usually points to a practical problem, such as a QR terminal placed out of the way or a GPS zone drawn too tightly, rather than to bad faith. Fixing these details early is what makes time and attendance software Senegal teams accept, rather than a tool they work around.
Time and attendance software Senegal: frequently asked questions
Is time and attendance software mandatory in Senegal?
No tool is mandatory. But the employer must be able to justify the hours paid, and a reliable record is the best proof.
Can employees be geolocated all the time?
Article 24 of the 2026 Code requires monitoring to be justified and proportionate. Limiting geolocation to the moment of clocking is the safest practice.
Does time tracking also handle leave?
Good software links clocking and absences. For leave rules under the new Code, see our guide to leave management in Senegal.
For the wider picture, see our guides to time and attendance software and time and attendance software in Africa.
Key takeaways
- Time and attendance software Senegal must apply the 2026 Code: 40 hours, overtime under your agreement, night work between 10 pm and 5 am.
- QR code and geolocation suit multiple sites without heavy hardware.
- Biometrics require CDP authorisation and must stay proportionate.
- Offline clocking is a deal-breaker, to be tested on site.
- The value of time and attendance software Senegal lies in its direct link with payroll.
Socium Time handles clocking by dynamic QR code and GPS, offline work and time sheets linked to payroll. Discover our time and attendance software or book a demo on one of your sites.
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