I finally looked at the article and that is bit over-engineered in my opinion. My favorite timeclock had a two-row character lcd character display, membrane

I finally looked at the article and that is bit over-engineered in my opinion. My favorite timeclock had a two-row character lcd character display, membrane keypad for digits and maybe 5 additional function buttons: clock in, clock out, lunch in, lunch out, and admin-mode. We used the last 6 digits of our SS# to clock in and out with. It had a serial interface. Use an Arduino, and you can add the serial display, keypad if needed, serial rfid or barcode scanner, and ethernet or wifi.