Time Attendance System for Avocado, Macadamia and Fruit Farms in Kenya: Setup Guide

01Why fruit farms need a time attendance record

Harvest labour is hired by the day, and the farm needs a clear record of who worked.

• Pickers are mostly casual
• Hours and piece-rate work get mixed up
• The farm office is far from the orchard

A paper register or a verbal "I was here" cannot settle these. A fingerprint terminal records when each person actually arrives and leaves, and the software turns that into a report payroll can use.

02How attendance works at fruit farms

Fruit farms hire heavily at harvest, then reduce to a core crew. Pickers may be paid per day or per crate. Packhouse staff and drivers work set hours.

03Where to put the terminal

Put the terminal at the farm gate or packhouse, where casuals gather at the start of the day. Make sure it has power and a stable fixing.

Count how many people arrive at the same time. If a queue forms at shift change, add a second terminal instead of asking staff to wait. See where to install a ZKTeco K40 Pro and how many employees one terminal can handle.

04Setting it up in ZKBio Time.Net

This is the order we follow when we set up a system for fruit farms. Each step has its own guide with screenshots.

1. Install the software, then add the terminal over TCP/IP.
2. Create departments or areas that match how you are organised (departments and areas).
3. Add staff one by one or import them from Excel, then enrol their fingerprints.
4. Create Core Staff, Harvest Crew and Packhouse departments, and enrol pickers as they are hired.
5. Press Calculate and check the first day's report before you trust the numbers (Calculate attendance).

05Reports you will actually use

Use daily headcount to match crate counts, and monthly hours to pay core staff.

They all come from the standard reports: daily report, late and early report, and export to Excel for payroll.

06Supply and installation by Qyvea

Qyvea Limited supplies ZKTeco attendance terminals, installs them, configures the software, enrols your staff and trains whoever runs payroll. We work in Nairobi and deliver countrywide. See ZKTeco K40 price in Kenya or message us on WhatsApp for a quote.

07Related guide

A wider guide for this sector: Biometric attendance for tea and coffee estates.

08A typical scenario

A fruit farm paid pickers on the foreman's list. At the end of the season, a worker claimed days that the foreman did not recall. Terminal records at the gate settled it.

Illustrative example based on common cases, not a named customer.

09Common mistakes

• Not having power at the gate for the terminal.
• Leaving the harvest crew out and recording only the core staff.
• Mixing piece-rate and daily-rate pay in one rule.

10Quick checklist

1. Count staff and entrances before you buy.
2. Write the working hours down as timetables.
3. Enrol everyone, including casual and part-time staff.
4. Run a one-week trial and compare it with your old register.
5. Name one person who owns the reports.

11Frequently asked questions