The July Telstra outage was a partial test of what your workforce management stack does without connectivity.
Some workforce management products offer limited offline resilience. UKG, for example, provides offline punch capture. Whether you actually have it depends on the product, the device and the configuration.
Capturing a punch locally protects one part of the process. Many other parts still need a live connection. Viewing roster changes, finding shift cover, approving exceptions, and communicating with employees all use the network.
The test has to cover the whole operating process. Can employees record time? Can supervisors run the shift? How are exceptions documented? What evidence does payroll rely on once systems reconnect? Which functions continue offline, which fail, and which need a manual fallback?
Sources
- Telstra outage in Australia disrupts trains and payments (7 July 2026) (opens in a new tab)Reuters
- The Telstra outage is a stark reminder of the widespread effects of single-system failures (8 July 2026) (opens in a new tab)The Guardian
- Punch: record time via offline punch (mobile guide, PDF) (opens in a new tab)UKG