Will the AI change hours, or only work around them?

Why it matters: Workyard's Autopilot plan describes a Time assistant that fixes a pay period of timecards and an agent that allocates time to projects. ClockShark says its JobReady agent only writes a shift brief and never changes a record. FYLD and Sitemate's Storm produce assessments and drafted forms. Know which kind you are buying before payroll is involved. Tip: Ask the vendor to list every field on a time card the AI can write to, and every field it never touches.

Who approves an AI change before payroll, and is it logged?

Why it matters: Workyard says all Time assistant changes are reviewed and approved by admins before they go to payroll. Ask every vendor for a change log showing the original value, the AI's change, the approver and the timestamp. A corrected time card can end up in a wage-and-hour dispute. Tip: Ask for a sample audit export of one AI-corrected time card.

How are certified, prevailing-wage and union payroll handled?

Why it matters: Automatic corrections and project allocation interact with classification, fringe and shift rules. Miter lists certified, union and prevailing-wage payroll; most time apps we read hand off to a payroll provider. Confirm where the rules live and which system wins on a conflict. Tip: Bring one certified payroll week and ask the vendor to walk it from clock-in to report.

Do cost codes and quantities come from the crew, the AI or the system of record?

Why it matters: Workyard and busybusy capture time by cost code; HCSS HeavyJob and Riskcast tie time to quantities, pay items and dailies. An AI allocation should not become a second, unreconciled source of job cost. Tip: Ask whether AI-allocated hours post to cost codes automatically or wait for approval.

What happens to GPS, location and face data?

Why it matters: Arcoro Time says GPS is active only while an employee is on the clock; ClockShark says Lightning adds no new location collection; busybusy describes AI facial recognition at the kiosk. Biometric and location rules vary by state and may be covered by union agreements. Tip: Get retention periods for location and face data in writing, and check with counsel before enabling biometrics.

Does it work offline and on a shared kiosk?

Why it matters: FYLD lists offline mode with original timestamps on sync; busybusy and Arcoro Time list kiosks. Heavy civil sites often have no signal and shared tablets. Test the clock-in where your crews actually start. Tip: Run the pilot on your worst-signal job, with one kiosk and one personal-phone crew.

Is time data used to train models, and what is the contract term?

Why it matters: ClockShark says customer data is not used to train AI models and states a three-year contract term on its plans. Others in our roundup did not address training data on the pages we read. Ask both questions before a pilot becomes a contract. Tip: Get the training-data policy and the minimum term in writing.

Home / Guides / Questions to ask before a crew time tracking or timesheet AI pilot

Questions to ask before a crew time tracking or timesheet AI pilot

A checklist for a first conversation with a vendor that says its AI can handle crew time. These are our suggestions, drawn from our field, progress & safety category and our construction time tracking roundup. They are not findings: Means & Methods Lab has not tested any of these tools, and vendor statements below are what vendors publish, read on Oct 16, 2026.

SUGGESTIONS, NOT FINDINGS. No tool has been tested by Means & Methods Lab. Vendor facts are desk research from vendor websites and are not verified. Updated 2026-10-16.

The questions (7)

Q01Will the AI change hours, or only work around them?
WHY IT MATTERS · Workyard's Autopilot plan describes a Time assistant that fixes a pay period of timecards and an agent that allocates time to projects. ClockShark says its JobReady agent only writes a shift brief and never changes a record. FYLD and Sitemate's Storm produce assessments and drafted forms. Know which kind you are buying before payroll is involved.
WHAT TO ASK · Ask the vendor to list every field on a time card the AI can write to, and every field it never touches.
Q02Who approves an AI change before payroll, and is it logged?
WHY IT MATTERS · Workyard says all Time assistant changes are reviewed and approved by admins before they go to payroll. Ask every vendor for a change log showing the original value, the AI's change, the approver and the timestamp. A corrected time card can end up in a wage-and-hour dispute.
WHAT TO ASK · Ask for a sample audit export of one AI-corrected time card.
Q03How are certified, prevailing-wage and union payroll handled?
WHY IT MATTERS · Automatic corrections and project allocation interact with classification, fringe and shift rules. Miter lists certified, union and prevailing-wage payroll; most time apps we read hand off to a payroll provider. Confirm where the rules live and which system wins on a conflict.
WHAT TO ASK · Bring one certified payroll week and ask the vendor to walk it from clock-in to report.
Q04Do cost codes and quantities come from the crew, the AI or the system of record?
WHY IT MATTERS · Workyard and busybusy capture time by cost code; HCSS HeavyJob and Riskcast tie time to quantities, pay items and dailies. An AI allocation should not become a second, unreconciled source of job cost.
WHAT TO ASK · Ask whether AI-allocated hours post to cost codes automatically or wait for approval.
Q05What happens to GPS, location and face data?
WHY IT MATTERS · Arcoro Time says GPS is active only while an employee is on the clock; ClockShark says Lightning adds no new location collection; busybusy describes AI facial recognition at the kiosk. Biometric and location rules vary by state and may be covered by union agreements.
WHAT TO ASK · Get retention periods for location and face data in writing, and check with counsel before enabling biometrics.
Q06Does it work offline and on a shared kiosk?
WHY IT MATTERS · FYLD lists offline mode with original timestamps on sync; busybusy and Arcoro Time list kiosks. Heavy civil sites often have no signal and shared tablets. Test the clock-in where your crews actually start.
WHAT TO ASK · Run the pilot on your worst-signal job, with one kiosk and one personal-phone crew.
Q07Is time data used to train models, and what is the contract term?
WHY IT MATTERS · ClockShark says customer data is not used to train AI models and states a three-year contract term on its plans. Others in our roundup did not address training data on the pages we read. Ask both questions before a pilot becomes a contract.
WHAT TO ASK · Get the training-data policy and the minimum term in writing.

Bring to the demo

Two pay periods of real time cards from one crew (redacted if needed).
Your cost-code list and one certified or union payroll week if in scope.
Your current GPS, biometric and data-retention policy.
Payroll and IT contacts for the export and training-data questions.

Sources

Workyard pricing https://www.workyard.com/pricing
ClockShark Lightning https://www.clockshark.com/lightning/
ClockShark pricing https://www.clockshark.com/pricing/
Arcoro Time https://arcoro.com/exaktime
FYLD FAQ https://fyld.ai/faq
busybusy https://busybusy.com
HCSS HeavyJob https://www.hcss.com/products/construction-project-management-software/
Miter https://www.miter.com

Tools mentioned (alphabetical, not ranked)

Arcoro Time (formerly ExakTime) · GPS time tracking for construction crews
busybusy · GPS time tracking & daily project reports
ClockShark · GPS time tracking & crew scheduling (with Lightning AI)
FYLD · AI field-work capture for utility & infrastructure crews
HCSS HeavyJob · Heavy civil field data, daily logs & job costing
Miter · Construction payroll, HR & field ops
Rhumbix · Field timekeeping, production & daily reports
Riskcast · Field time, production & forecasting
Sitemate (Dashpivot + Storm) · Field forms, daily reports & voice-to-record AI
Workyard · GPS time tracking, cost codes & field ops

Side-by-side comparisons

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