| 摘要 |
In an Instant Messenger, a current state that is transmitted to other employees is selectable by user input, to be a first state identifying a given employee as working or a second state identifying the given employee as taking a break. A draft time card is automatically prepared for the given employee, by using a time at which the current state is set in the IM to the first state as a time of occurrence of a clock-in event in tracking time to be paid, or when it is set to the second state as a time of occurrence of a clock-out event. The draft time card is displayed to the given employee and finalized based on additional user input identifying any changes to periods of time in the draft time card, to obtain a finalized time card. The finalized time card is submitted to an accounting system, for payment. |
| 主权项 |
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
displaying, in an Instant Messenger (IM) logged into by an employee, a set of timecard states in which each timecard state is selectable by user input, the set of timecard states comprising a first timecard state identifying the employee as working for an organization and multiple second timecard states identifying the employee as not working, the multiple second states comprising a state of being at lunch and another state of taking a break; receiving in the IM, user input identifying a specific timecard state selected from among the set of timecard states to be a current state of the employee; receiving in the IM, further user input identifying a specific task selected from among a set of tasks, as a current task being worked on by the employee; selectively transmitting an identification of the current task only to first employees but not to second employees, the first employees and the second employees being identified in the IM as buddies of the employee, the first employees being determined based on meeting a test on work relationships in a database; creating a draft time card for the employee, by using a first time at which the current state is set by user input in the IM to the first timecard state as a time of occurrence of a clock-in event in tracking of time to be paid, and by using a second time at which the current state is set by user input in the IM to the a second timecard state selected from among the multiple second states as a time of occurrence of a clock-out event in said tracking of time; displaying the draft time card, the draft time card identifying in a given day several periods of not working interleaved between a plurality of periods of work, at least one period in the several periods of not working being identified to be in the second timecard state and at least one period of work in the plurality of periods being identified to be in the first timecard state; receiving additional user input indicative of zero or more changes to any periods displayed in the draft time card; storing the draft time card after applying any changes, in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, as a finalized timecard; and transmitting the finalized time card to an accounting system. |
