Are Sign-In Logs Reliable for Tracking Employee Start Times?

Just a note: sometimes logs can take hours to update. I've seen cases where entries didn't show up until days later. Plus, if the employee was already logged in and didn’t need to re-authenticate, that could give a false impression of when they signed in. Overall, I think these logs won't give a clear view of what really happened.

I wouldn’t really recommend relying solely on sign-in logs for this kind of situation. You’d need to consider both interactive and non-interactive logs, which probably won’t give you the full picture. Honestly, I doubt they would hold up in any serious disputes either. If there’s a need for tracking arrival times, a standard clock-in system would make way more sense.

Honestly, Microsoft logs can be pretty unpredictable, so I wouldn't put too much faith in them unless you have a backup way to verify the info. They aren't super reliable on their own.

I had a similar case at my last job. They thought someone was coming in late, but the sign-in logs just showed when they logged into the computer. If they were using a call center app, they would have logged in quickly after arriving, so it wasn't the only proof we looked at. Just a heads up: make sure to check other data points too, like call logs, because sign-in logs can sometimes be misleading if someone was already logged in. Also, don't forget about the login location; if they logged in from somewhere outside the office, that could really change things.