# Why facial or GPS validation failed

> What the validation badges mean, common reasons a clock-in fails GPS or facial check, and what to do about it.

Every clock-in and clock-out can carry up to two validation results: **GPS** (was the employee at an authorised location?) and **Facial** (does the selfie match the employee's reference photo?). On the Attendance Report you'll see one of three badges per side:

| Badge | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Pass** | The check ran and succeeded. |
| **Fail** | The check ran and the result didn't match. The clock record is still saved — but a manager should review it. |
| **N/A** | The check wasn't run (your company has it turned off, or the device couldn't capture the data). |

A failed validation **does not block** the clock-in by default. The record is created, the employee gets a confirmation, and the row is then surfaced on the dashboard's "Failed Validations" widget so a manager can investigate.

## Common reasons GPS fails

- **Employee was outside the geofence.** Each branch has a centre point (latitude/longitude) and a radius. If the captured location is further than the radius from the centre, GPS fails. Check the location's radius — for some sites 100 m isn't enough; 250-500 m is more realistic.
- **Coarse location only.** If the user denied "precise location" in their phone settings, the OS gives an approximate fix that can be 100s of metres off.
- **Indoors, near concrete walls.** GPS struggles indoors. Sometimes the only fix the phone can get is wildly inaccurate.
- **Mock location apps.** Less common but does happen — some employees install fake-GPS apps. Timed can't reliably detect this, so consider it a possibility if a known-on-site employee keeps "failing" GPS while everyone around them passes.

## Common reasons Facial fails

- **Reference photo is poor or out of date.** If the employee was registered with a low-quality photo, or has since changed appearance significantly (long beard, very different glasses, weight change), the facial recognition similarity score may not clear the threshold.
- **Bad lighting at clock-in.** Direct backlight, very dark rooms, or wearing a peaked cap with shadow over the face all hurt the score.
- **Multiple faces in the frame.** If a colleague is behind the employee, facial recognition may pick the wrong face.
- **There's no reference photo.** If the employee's reference photo is missing, the check returns **N/A** rather than Fail. An admin should add a new reference photo for the employee.

## What to do as a manager

1. Open the Attendance Report and filter to **Validation: Failed Validation**.
2. Click into the failed record. The detail modal shows the GPS coordinates, a small map, the clock-in selfie, and the reference photo side by side.
3. Decide: was the employee actually on site / actually them? If yes, approve the variance. If no, follow up.
4. If the same employee fails repeatedly, update their reference photo (open the employee's page and use the **Facial Recognition** section, or use a good clock-in selfie as the new reference from the record's detail view) or check the location's geofence radius.

## Realtime vs delayed validation

Each company can choose (under **Settings**) **realtime** or **delayed** validation:

- **Realtime** — the check runs while the clock-in is being submitted. Slows the request by 0.5-2 seconds. Used when you want immediate feedback to the employee.
- **Delayed** (default) — the clock-in saves immediately and the validation runs in the background. Faster for the employee; the result lands on the record a few seconds later.

Both produce the same Pass / Fail / N/A badge — the only difference is timing. If you're seeing badges that take a while to appear after a clock-in, that's delayed validation working as intended.