An employee tracking system is disclosed, in which processing, accessing or both within the system is determined according to the hierarchical structure of the underlying organization. Each employee is associated with a node in the organization, and access to employee-related data is based upon the node associated with the requester and the node of the employee being checked, as well as the type of data being requested. Employees may clock into and out of work using mobile devices that interface with the employee tracking system host computer.