A lot has already been written about the rules of Check In and Out at Work (CIaO). Much less attention goes to what happens on the work floor in the first weeks. Choosing a registration system takes an afternoon. Getting thirty people to think of it every day, four times a day, is another story. And that is exactly where the risk lies: a missed registration cannot be corrected afterwards, and the fine is counted per employee.
Why does it go wrong when the rules are clear?
Because registering has to become a habit, and habits do not change with an e-mail or a new app. Someone who has worked without a time clock for twenty years simply forgets it in the first weeks. Especially at a break, or when the day does not go as planned.
The typical stumbling blocks are very concrete:
- The break. Checking IN on arrival usually works. But anyone going for lunch must also register OUT and then IN again. That is what people forget most often.
- The end of the day. A missed IN can still be entered while the work is ongoing. A missed OUT can no longer be added afterwards.
- The foreman who quickly does it for everyone. Well meant, but not allowed: everyone registers themselves, at the workplace and at that very moment.
- The phone left in the van, a flat battery or no signal in a basement. Anyone who does not know the fallback procedure will not register that day.
- People who are not on your payroll. Temporary workers and subcontractors must register too. Who explains it to them?
- The feeling of being monitored. People who do not know why it is required feel watched. That slows things down more than the technology does.
What does a bad start cost?
For the employer, the administrative fine ranges from 800 to 8,000 euros, or the criminal fine from 1,600 to 16,000 euros, multiplied by the number of employees involved. An employee who does not register also risks a fine.
But the fine is not the only cost. Every missing registration later becomes a question for the payroll team: how long did that person really work? If you let the first months slide, you also get discussions about hours, corrections and extra work with every payroll run.
How do you roll it out? Seven steps
- Start with your foremen and site managers. They see every day who is there and who forgets. If they are not on board, it will not work. Explain it to them first, separately, and make them the point of contact.
- Explain it on the work floor, not by e-mail. Five minutes at the start of the day, in the team's language, with a phone in hand. Also explain why: it is a legal obligation, not extra control by the boss.
- Make it as simple as possible. A QR code on the site cabin or at the entrance, or an app that uses geofencing to check that someone is really on site. Registering should be a single action. The fewer steps, the less people forget.
- Practise before it becomes mandatory. Start a trial period without consequences a few weeks to a few months before the obligation. For construction, where CIaO applies from 1 April 2027, early 2027 is a good moment.
- In the first weeks, check every day who forgot. Talk to that person the same day, calmly and without blame. After a few weeks it becomes a reflex.
- Arrange things for people who are not on your payroll. Agree with your temp agency and subcontractors who explains to their people how to register and with which tool.
- Put the agreements in writing. If your people use their own phone, include that in the work rules or the employment contract. Also record that you gave instructions and provided a working registration tool.
Tip: turn it into a game
If you want the first months to run smoothly, reward what goes well rather than only punishing what goes wrong. A small prize often works better than a stern e-mail. A few ideas that cost little:
- Breakfast or sandwiches on site for every team that completes a full month without a missed registration.
- A food truck or chip stand on site or at the depot for the best team of the quarter.
- A raffle among everyone with a flawless month: cinema tickets, dinner for two, a spa or wellness voucher, or a workshop of their choice.
- A team outing for the team that stays flawless the longest, such as karting, bowling or an escape room.
- A good cause: for every flawless month, the company donates an amount to a good cause chosen by the team.
- Recognition: the foreman of the month in the newsletter or on the notice board, with a word from the managing director.
Two pieces of advice. Reward teams rather than individuals: colleagues then remind each other, and nobody is singled out. And ask your social secretariat how to give a reward correctly for tax and social security purposes, because not every prize is automatically tax-free.
Who in your organisation should be involved?
- The managing director decides how you register and makes sure the foremen have time to follow it up.
- HR takes care of the instructions, the work rules and the agreements with temporary workers and subcontractors.
- The payroll team has the most to gain: correct registrations mean correct hours, and therefore fewer corrections afterwards.
Read also
- Is my construction site subject to CIaO? The 500,000 euro threshold
- Subcontractors and temporary workers under CIaO: who registers what?
- Employees' own phone and GPS for time registration: what the GDPR allows
Frequently asked questions about introducing CIaO
The employee is personally responsible for a correct registration, provided the system works. Give clear instructions, provide a working tool and keep a record that you did so.
As the employer, you choose the registration tool. If you let people use their own phone, make agreements about it in the work rules or the employment contract.
A missed IN can still be entered while the activity is ongoing. A missed OUT can no longer be added afterwards.
No. Everyone registers themselves, at the workplace and at that very moment.
At least a few weeks before the obligation, so your people can practise without consequences. For construction, CIaO applies from 1 April 2027, for sites of 500,000 euros or more excluding VAT and for the delivery of ready-mixed concrete. In cleaning, the obligation has applied since 1 September 2024.
How MyVIRO helps
With MyVIRO, your employees register their start, breaks and end themselves, on their own device and at the workplace, with GPS location check. Registrations go straight to CIaO via the NSSO web service, without anyone having to retype anything. You immediately see who missed a registration, so you can step in the same day. The same data flows into your time registration and payroll preparation. Read more about the MyVIRO solution or book a demo to see how it works in practice.
Sources
- Check In and Out at Work, NSSO (in French)
- Frequently asked questions about CIaO, NSSO (PDF, in French)
- Checkinatwork: construction works, NSSO (in French)