The same board that signs in visitors usually signs in staff, and the reason is the evacuation list rather than attendance. If the site has to account for everyone who is inside, the record has to know about the people who work there as well as the people visiting them. That is a different job from recording hours, and conflating the two is how these deployments go wrong.
Why staff are on the same board as visitors
Because the question the record answers is who is in the building, and the answer is meaningless if it only covers guests. A fire warden with a list of eleven visitors and no idea about forty staff has half a list. Putting both on one board is the simplest way to make the list complete, and it is why almost every visitor product includes a staff mode.
It is not a time clock, and should not be sold as one
A sign-in board records presence, not hours worked, and the moment it is used for pay it acquires a set of obligations it was not designed for. Employment record keeping is the employer's duty and belongs in a payroll or time and attendance system that was built for it. If you want hours, buy the product that does hours; if you want to know who is inside, this is the record.
What staff will and will not do
Staff sign-in works when it takes one tap and fails when it takes a form. Most sites end up with a simple in and out, on a tablet by the door or from a phone, and a rule about what happens when someone forgets. The rule matters more than the software: the day everyone is standing in a car park, the list is only as good as the habit.
Keeping the staff record separate from the visitor one
They live on the same board but they are not the same data. Staff records are about employees and are read by managers; visitor records are about third parties and are read by the desk. Ask how a product separates who can see what, and keep the retention periods separate too, because they are answering different questions.
Questions people ask about employee sign in system
Is a staff sign-in board the same as time and attendance?
No. It records presence for safety and site awareness. Hours for pay belong in a payroll or time and attendance system with the record keeping that comes with it.
Do staff need to sign out?
For the evacuation list to be right, yes. That is the whole reason to have them on the board, and it is the part that needs a habit rather than a feature.
Can staff sign in from a phone instead of the tablet?
Most products allow it, and it is usually what makes staff sign-in survive past the first month.