Common Issues and How to Fix Them

A grab-bag of the most-asked questions and how to resolve each. Skim the headings and jump to the one that matches what you're seeing.

Why this exists

Most problems in FabWise have a known answer. The detailed help articles cover features in depth; this one is the fast-lookup index for "something's wrong right now."

If you don't find your issue here, check the related article for the feature, or contact support.

Kiosk

A worker's name isn't showing on the kiosk

Cause: The worker isn't set up to track time, isn't in an active department, or is marked inactive.

Fix: Open the worker in Admin → Users. Confirm:
- Tracks Time is checked
- Department is set and the department is active
- Status is Active (not Inactive or Terminated)
- The worker has a PIN

A worker's PIN isn't working

Cause: Typo on the original setup, a recent reset they don't know about, or the account is locked after failed attempts.

Fix: Open the worker in Admin → Users → Edit. Type a new PIN in the Kiosk PIN field (it's a password field — you can't see the existing PIN, only set a new one). Save. Tell the worker their new PIN privately.

If you suspect the account is locked from 5 failed attempts, resetting the PIN clears the lock.

Multiple workers can't clock in — screen says "Service Unavailable"

Cause: Network outage or the kiosk tablet lost Wi-Fi.

Fix:
1. Open Settings on the tablet, confirm Wi-Fi is connected.
2. If Wi-Fi is fine but the kiosk still errors, the FabWise service may be having a problem. Check the status page or contact support.
3. In the meantime, workers can clock in via Workstation on their phone if they have it set up. Otherwise, fall back to writing down arrival times on paper and entering them when service is back.

The kiosk screen turns off during the day

Cause: "Stay awake while charging" isn't enabled on the tablet, or the tablet isn't actually charging.

Fix: Follow the appropriate tablet setup guide:
- Set Up an Android Tablet for the Kiosk (Step 3)
- Set Up an iPad for the Kiosk (Step 2 — Auto-Lock to Never)

Also confirm the tablet is plugged into a working outlet.

The kiosk got closed and shows the Android/iPad home screen

Cause: Someone hit the home button or swiped up.

Fix: Tap the FabWise Kiosk icon on the home screen to relaunch. To prevent this happening repeatedly, enable Screen Pinning (Android) or Guided Access (iPad). See the tablet setup guides.

Shifts and time tracking

A worker forgot to clock in this morning

Cause: They started working without tapping the kiosk.

Fix two ways:

Worker fixes at the kiosk: when they tap Start Shift, they pick the "Forgot to clock in" option. FabWise records the shift as starting at the scheduled time, not the current time. Supervisor reviews and approves.
Supervisor fixes after the fact: open the shift in Admin → Shifts, set the final start time to what it should be. The audit log records the correction.

A worker forgot to clock out at end of shift

Cause: They left without tapping.

Fix: Open the shift in Admin → Shifts. Set the final end time to when they actually left. Save. The audit log records who corrected it and when.

The original tap time (none, in this case) is preserved separately; you're setting the "final" time that drives payroll.

A worker took a meal break but didn't tap it on the kiosk

Cause: They forgot, or the kiosk was busy and they didn't want to wait.

Fix: Open the shift in Admin → Shifts. Add a meal break to the shift with the actual times. Save.

A shift is flagged for review and I don't know why

Cause: Something in the shift triggered a review rule (late arrival without intent, missed meal break, exceeded max shift length, unscheduled shift, overtime).

Fix: Open the shift detail. The inspection results panel lists each rule that triggered and why. Address each one — usually that means accepting the captured times, correcting them, or adding a note for the audit trail.

For the full review pattern, see Reviewing and Approving Shifts.

A worker's hours don't match what they actually worked

Cause: Either the captured times are wrong (they tapped at the wrong time) or supervisor adjustments are off.

Fix: Open the shift. You'll see two time sets:
- Captured — what they tapped at the kiosk (immutable)
- Final — what counts for pay (you can adjust)

Edit the final times to match reality. If the worker disputes, the audit log shows every change with attribution.

A worker disputes their hours

Cause: Disagreement between captured times, supervisor adjustments, and what they remember.

Fix: Open the shift in admin. Show them:
1. The tap times (these are immutable record)
2. Any supervisor corrections, with who made them and when
3. The final times used for pay

If the supervisor correction was wrong, fix it. If the worker is wrong, the audit trail speaks for itself. Document the conversation in the shift's comments.

Schedules

A worker's schedule is wrong on the kiosk

Cause: They're in the wrong department, the department has the wrong schedule, or they have a personal schedule override that's set incorrectly.

Fix: Open the worker in Admin → Users:
1. Check Department is correct
2. Check the Schedule field. "Inherit from Department" uses the department schedule. If it's set to a specific schedule, that overrides the department.
3. After fixing, the system regenerates upcoming shifts automatically (it fires a ScheduleRebuildJob on schedule change).

Workers aren't seeing their shifts at all

Cause: The schedule wasn't rebuilt after a change, or the schedule has no entries for upcoming dates.

Fix: Admin → Settings → Scheduling → Manage Schedules → open the schedule → click Rebuild Schedule. This regenerates future shifts from the current template.

A schedule change didn't take effect

Cause: Same as above — the rebuild job may not have run yet.

Fix: Manually trigger Rebuild Schedule. If the change still doesn't appear, contact support.

Workstation

Cause: Their device isn't enrolled, or the passkey was deleted, or they're trying to sign in from a different device than the one enrolled.

Fix: Generate a new enrollment QR code (Admin → Users → [worker] → Devices → Enroll new device). The worker scans it on the device they want to use. The old device stops working at the same time — Workstation is one device per worker by design.

"This link has expired" when a worker tries to enroll

Cause: The enrollment link expired (10 minutes after generation).

Fix: Generate a new link. Send it immediately.

A worker says they got a new phone and want to use Workstation on it

Cause: Their old phone's enrollment is the active one.

Fix: Generate a new enrollment QR code. The worker scans on the new phone. The old phone stops working.

Leads and Customer Portal

Someone said they submitted a quote request but I don't see a lead

Cause: Spam blocker filtered the lead notification email, or the submitter hit an error and the form didn't actually go through.

Fix:
1. Check the spam folder of the account email.
2. Check Admin → Leads directly — if the lead is there but the email wasn't received, it's a spam-filter issue.
3. If the lead isn't in your inbox at all, ask the submitter to try again. The form may have errored.

Leads are coming in but I'm not getting notified

Cause: Email going to spam, or push notifications not set up.

Fix:
- Check spam. Mark FabWise emails as not-spam.
- For push notifications, the per-supervisor notification preferences live on the User edit form (Admin → Users → [your profile] → Notifications section). Confirm push categories are enabled.

My public portal page shows "Not found"

Cause: Either Public listing isn't enabled, or the portal slug isn't set.

Fix: Admin → Customer Portal → Edit. Confirm:
- Public listing is checked
- Portal URL Slug is set
- Save

Payroll export

A worker doesn't appear in my payroll export

Cause: Their shifts are flagged for review and not yet approved. Only approved shifts are ready for payroll.

Fix: Go to Admin → Shifts, filter by Needs Review, find their shifts and approve. Re-export.

Payroll export shows wrong hours

Cause: A supervisor correction wasn't saved, or you're exporting a shift that's still flagged.

Fix:
1. Open the worker's shifts in admin for the pay period
2. Confirm each shift's final times are correct
3. Re-export

The CSV import into my payroll provider failed

Cause: Column format mismatch between FabWise's export and your provider's importer.

Fix: Open the CSV in a spreadsheet. Compare the column headers to what your payroll provider expects. You may need to:
- Rename columns
- Reorder columns
- Save as a different format (.xlsx instead of .csv, for example)
- Use the provider's "map columns" step in their import wizard

For the column reference, see Exporting Hours for Payroll.

Supervisor workflow

A supervisor is on vacation and shifts are piling up in the review queue

Cause: Only the assigned supervisor (or admins) can review their direct reports' shifts.

Fix:
1. Admins can review any shift, regardless of supervisor assignment. If you're an admin, just process them.
2. For ongoing absences, reassign the worker's supervisor temporarily (Admin → Users → [worker] → Supervisor field) to someone present.

I can't see a worker's shifts

Cause: You're a supervisor, not an admin, and the worker isn't assigned to you.

Fix: Either ask the worker's actual supervisor to handle, or ask an admin to reassign you temporarily.

Account-level

I forgot my admin password

Fix: Use the Forgot password link on the sign-in page. If you don't have access to the email, contact support.

Fix: Contact support directly. Don't keep trying — repeated failed attempts can lock the account harder.

I want to add another admin

Fix: Admin → Users → Add User. Set User type to Office, Role to Admin. Send them their sign-in credentials.

I want to delete the account

Fix: See Delete Account in the Privacy section. Account deletion is permanent — make sure you've exported any data you want to keep first.

When to contact support

Most issues above have direct fixes. Contact support for:

Service-level problems (you can't sign in at all, the kiosk is failing for multiple workers, you suspect data corruption)
Account-level changes (changing the account owner, merging accounts, restoring deleted data)
Bulk operations (importing 50+ workers from CSV, migrating from another time clock system)
Bugs you've found in the product
Anything that feels weird and you can't explain

Support is at [email protected] or the in-app help.

[Reviewing and Approving Shifts](../admin/reviewing-and-approving-shifts.md)
[Shift Review](../time-tracking/shift-review.md)
[How Hours Roll Up to Payroll](../time-tracking/how-hours-roll-up-to-payroll.md)
[Managing Users](../admin/managing-users.md)
[Enroll a Worker for Workstation Access](../admin/enrolling-workers-for-workstation.md)
[Schedules](../admin/scheduling.md)