Practical ways to stop buddy punching and time theft in security guarding — from GPS geofencing to liveness-checked facial recognition check-in.
Category: Operations · Published: 2026-06-14
Buddy punching — one officer clocking in for another — quietly inflates payroll and undermines the proof-of-presence your clients pay for. Here's how to eliminate it.
Every fraudulent clock-in is wages paid for work that didn't happen, and worse, a site that may have been left uncovered. Across a workforce it adds up fast and erodes client trust when presence can't be proven.
PIN codes and shared kiosks are easy to game — codes get shared, and a colleague can clock in for someone who isn't there. Even GPS clock-in alone only proves a device's location, not who is holding it.
The reliable approach combines location with identity:
Once identity and location are verified on every check-in, you don't just stop fraud — you get a tamper-evident attendance record you can show clients, which strengthens contracts and renewals.
Buddy punching is when one employee clocks in or out on behalf of another who isn't actually present, inflating hours and faking attendance.
Not on its own — GPS proves where a device is, not who is using it. Pairing it with facial recognition verifies identity as well as location.
No. With Pulcify it runs on the officer's own smartphone — there's no kiosk or special hardware to buy.
Verified, time-stamped check-ins give you credible proof of presence to share with clients, which protects contracts.
Pulcify turns the checks described above into an automated workflow: licence and vetting status tracked per operative, expiry alerts before anything lapses, and audit-ready evidence packs generated on demand.
Book a demo or see pricing — 14-day free trial, no credit card required.