How it works
Every swipe creates an event: credential, reader, door and timestamp. Rolled up by day, the events show how many people entered each building and, where floors have readers, which floors they reached. Linked to the directory, they show attendance by team.
Badge data has known gaps. People tailgate through doors behind a colleague, many buildings record entry but not exit, landlord-run systems may not share data with tenants, and a swipe says nothing about which desk or room someone used or how long they stayed.
It works best combined with other signals. Badge arrivals confirm building attendance; desk and room check-ins or office network presence add where people went. Badge events can also trigger automatic check-ins, so a booking is confirmed when its holder enters the building.
How to measure it
- Confirm you can get the data; landlord systems often need an agreement and an export.
- Count unique people per day, not swipes, and decide how to treat repeat entries.
- Map readers to buildings and floors before reporting floor-level figures.
- Report in aggregate by team and building, and restrict access to individual swipe histories.
Examples
- Badge data shows 400 unique arrivals on Tuesday while desk check-ins show 310: some people used unbookable spaces or skipped check-in.
- A company sends badge events to its workplace platform so people are checked in to their booked desks automatically on arrival.
Benchmarks
In CBRE's benchmarking, 71% of organizations with hybrid programs requiring office presence monitor attendance, mainly through badge swipes, sensors and VPN logins.
CBRE, The Hybrid Reality (2026 Global Workplace & Occupancy Insights)
Common mistakes
- Treating badge entries as desk or room occupancy.
- Counting swipes rather than unique people.
- Ignoring tailgating and entry-only readers when comparing buildings.
- Using swipe histories to discipline individuals without a clear, communicated policy.
How Kadence helps
Kadence can take check-ins from badge data, alongside the apps, kiosks, room displays, the Kadence Agent on the office network and the public API. Outbound webhooks send Kadence events to other systems, such as security or badge tools. Workplace Insights reports attendance and occupancy from all check-ins together.
Workplace occupancy · Integrations · Workplace analytics
Frequently asked questions
How is badge data used to measure occupancy?
Unique badge-ins per day show how many people entered a building, and floor readers show which floors they reached. Divided by capacity, that gives building-level occupancy. For desk and room use, you still need check-ins or other space-level data.
Is badge data accurate enough to measure office occupancy?
It is a good measure of building entry, with gaps: tailgating, missing exit reads and landlord systems that do not share data. Combine it with office network presence or check-ins to confirm attendance and see where people worked.
Can badge data count as working-time records?
Usually not on its own. Badge systems show entry and sometimes exit, not breaks, overtime or remote work. Where law requires working-time records, as in the EU, employers need a system designed for that purpose. Check requirements with legal advisers.
Is using badge data for attendance legal?
Generally yes, if employees are told how it is used and the use is proportionate. Data protection rules, and in some countries works councils, may require a stated purpose, limited access and retention periods. Take advice for each country.
What is a better alternative to badge data for tracking office attendance?
Most teams add to badge data rather than replace it. Office network presence and desk or room check-ins show who stayed and where they worked, which badge swipes cannot. This matters most when security owns the badge system and shares data late or not at all, or when each office runs a different access system.
Related terms
- Presence data (sensorless occupancy) The record of who was actually in the building and when, from signals you already have: network, badges and check-ins.
- Occupancy sensor A device that detects whether a desk, room or zone is in use, or counts the people in it, usually anonymously.
- Office attendance rate The share of employees, or of expected office days, that people actually spend in the office, measured from presence data.
- Coffee badging Badging into the office to register attendance, staying briefly, often for a coffee, then leaving to work elsewhere.
- Working time recording The EU requirement that employers run an objective, reliable and accessible system to record each worker's daily working time.
Sources
Kadence editorial team · Last reviewed