Choosing between a fingerprint reader and a face reader for attendance is usually presented as a technology preference and is really a choice between two different failure modes and two different levels of regulatory scrutiny. Both are biometric; they are not equivalent in how they fail or in how they are received.
How each one fails
Fingerprint readers struggle with worn, wet or damaged fingers, which is common in exactly the trades that most want a terminal. Face readers avoid contact and bring their own sensitivities to lighting and angle, and their accuracy is not uniform across different groups of people. A product that is reliable in a bright reception can produce a pattern of failures on a night shift that looks and feels discriminatory.
The regulatory bar is not the same
Face based attendance is the most intrusive option on the shelf, and regulators have taken a firm line where it has been used for routine attendance while staff had no real alternative. Fingerprint is not exempt from the same tests of proportionality and notice, but the bar for justifying a face reader is visibly higher and the direction of travel is towards more scrutiny.
Ask whether a card would do
If the honest answer is that a card would work and a face is tidier, you have your answer. Convenience is not the standard that makes processing biometric data proportionate, and a proximity card produces the same electronic record while holding nothing about anybody's body. Reach for biometrics when you have documented evidence of cards being shared.
Questions people ask about biometric fingerprint time clock
Which is more accurate?
Both are accurate enough that false matches are rare. What differs is who they fail on, and that depends on your workforce and your lighting.
Is face recognition allowed for attendance?
It can be where it is proportionate and justified, and the bar is high. Assume you will have to explain why a less intrusive option would not work.
Does a template avoid the rules?
No. Biometric data used to identify somebody is regulated whether it is stored as an image or as a mathematical template.