How to Track Employee Hours

When you’re an employer, you must keep track of your workforce time. And with all that responsibility and complying with legal regulations, it can be stressful to track employee hours properly.

Tracking employee time can be challenging but fortunately, you can easily cut the red tape with the right employee time tracking software.

How to accurately track time, why do it, why is it important, and which tools to choose? Check it out in our short guide!

Why Is Tracking Employee Hours Important?

In general, tracking employee hours is important for legal reasons—the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to keep records of work hours, wages, and other relevant data. Hence, if you’re an employer, you’re obliged to track employees hours.

(You can read more here, in the Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)).

But there are many other reasons for which tracking hours is important:

• To pay your employees fairly for hours worked based on accurate data.

• It helps to prevent time theft as you have proof of work.

• Employee hours tracker provides you with tools to handle payroll without a hassle.

• Tracking hours allows you to to bill clients accurately and charge for hours actually worked.

• Precise time tracking lets you calculate exact labor costs.

• Time tracking data is useful during audits as it contains all the required information.

• You get accurate timesheets with neat logs of hours.

• Recording work hours lest you easily adjust employee schedules, plan, and organize work.

• Time tracking data helps to measure employee performance and helps to improve efficiency.

While many people find employee hour tracking controversial, if done in a smart way, it can automate your work, optimize business processes, eliminate repetitive activities, and, as a result, help your business grow.

How to Track Employee Hours?

In general, there are two ways of tracking employee hours—manual time tracking and by using time tracking apps.

But the options of time monitoring provide you with different types of recording hours. Here are all the ways in which you can track employee hours:

Traditional Methods of Tracking Employee Hours

1. You can fill timesheets manually. It usually involves filling out paper timesheets, spreadsheets, or using physical punch cards. Also, you can choose timesheet templates to ease your work.
2. Punch cards and time clocks. It’s a very traditional way that allows companies to track employee time.

Fortunately, many modern time tracking tools offer automatic punching and clocking in/out. That way, you can replace outdated, ineffective method of manual time tracking with digital employees clock.

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Modern Digital Solutions

1. Automated time tracking apps that offer additional features (including task and project management, workforce planning, productivity monitoring, payroll processing, and more).
2. Cloud-bases solutions: Online web timesheet apps, timers, or time trackers that you can easily access via phone or web browser.
3. Mobile apps available for different types of mobile devices, e.g., smartphones, watches, tablets. Yor employees can easily carry them wherever they are.
4. Biometric systems. These capture unique traits, convert them into digital data, and store them for comparison when verifying identity.
5. GPS tracking with geofencing—provides you with location tracking. It can be especially useful for employees working outside of the office, traveling for business purposes on a regular basis, or meeting clients in various places.

Usually, you can find all these options in a good time tracking software which often comprise project management features with tracking employee hours. That provides a unified platform for all your data on employees, work hours, and projects.

The most important thing that will let you track employee hours accurately is to find the method that works best for you and your team.

Challenges of Tracking Working Hours

Although fully automatic, time tracking isn’t always such a piece of cake, if you don’t do it the right way. There are many challenges that arise from monitoring employees hours:

1. Resistance to change. Sometimes employees don’t want change. In the case of time tracking, that resistance may steam from the lack of trust, and fear of micromanagement may cause people not to want to track their work time.
2. Buddy punching and time theft. Buddy punching and time theft can occur when employees feel undervalued or dissatisfied. These practices not only skew time tracking data but also indicate underlying issues in workplace culture. It’s your job as an employer to create a good work atmosphere and compensate your workforce fairly.
3. Using the wrong tools. Too many complex features can make it hard to use the tool. Or too simplistic app, especially for larger organizations who often need more than just a basic time tracking tool, may cause troubles and bottlenecks.
4. Technical issues. Technical issues, such as incompatibility with existing systems or frequent downtime, can disrupt time tracking efforts.
5. Ensuring accuracy. Inaccurate time tracking can lead to payroll errors, project delays, and employee dissatisfaction. It’s important to be consistent and track everything.
6. Law compliance. Time tracking (if done for legal purposes) must adhere to local regulations regarding working hours, overtime, and employee rights.

You may face other challenges, depending on your business activity. But you can easily face them with the right practices.

Best Practices for Implementing Time Tracking

Probably, your employees won’t be satisfied with the idea of their work being tracked. Luckily, you can take steps that will help your team get comfortable with monitoring work hours.

Take a look at proven practices and what you can do to easily implement time tracking:

Read more: Time tracking best practices

Communicate and Inform

All your employees should be engaged in tracking employee hours, whether they’re remote employees, in-office or hybrid workers, or working on the job site. It only works if it’s a common practice for the whole company.

Clear communication helps to understand the benefits of time tracking. And there are many—fair compensation, improved productivity, and accurate project timelines.

Being transparent with your employees will help reduce resistance and foster a culture of trust.

Set Goals

Define why you want to track time and what you want to track—are you looking to improve project management, ensure accurate payroll, or analyze productivity?

Clearly communicating these goals helps employees see the bigger picture and understand how time tracking contributes to the company’s success. And how it benefits employees.

What’s more, defining your objectives helps in accurate time tracking. That way, your company can focus on the right KPIs instead of tracking time for the sake of… tracking time.

Employee Training

Proper training is essential to ensure everyone knows how to use the time tracking tools effectively. Offer training sessions that cover the technical aspects of the tools, explain the policies, and address any concerns employees might have.

Ongoing support and resources can also help smooth the transition.

Help people learn how to track time so they don’t find it problematic. Show how it can help improve their work and achieve work-life harmony.

Use the Right Tools

The right time tracking app can save you the trouble.

Investing in the right time tracking software can make a significant difference. Choose a tool that is user-friendly, integrates well with your existing systems, and provides the features your business needs.

Also, a good tool should minimize the administrative burden and be easy for employees to use regularly. Automated time tracking apps can help reduce human error and ensure accurate payroll processing.

Set Clear Policies

Establish clear policies regarding time tracking. Outline expectations for logging hours, reporting breaks, and handling discrepancies. Clear guidelines will help avoid misunderstandings and ensure everyone is on the same page.

What’s more, if your internal time tracking policies are in line with the federal and state regulations as well as labor laws, you can be sure your company will be reliable, accountable, and profitable .

Regular Audits

Tracking employee hours isn’t a one-time activity. It’s an ongoing process that requires constant engagement.

Hence, regularly reviewing time tracking data ensures accuracy and helps identify any issues or areas for improvement. These audits can also reinforce the importance of time tracking and demonstrate your commitment to fairness and transparency.

Give Your Employees Freedom

While tracking time is important, it’s equally crucial to give employees some flexibility. Allow them to manage their time within reasonable boundaries and encourage breaks to prevent burnout.

A balance between monitoring and autonomy can lead to higher job satisfaction and productivity.

Also, if you let them use their favorite methods of recording work time, they’ll be more satisfied. Only ensure they’re consistent with company policies. After all, time tracking can be fun with all the productivity apps available on the market!

The Best Apps for Tracking Employee Hours

People are usually looking for simple solutions, not overly complicated, no complexity, just basic time tracking with features that would allow easy clock-ins and outs.

And it can be difficult to choose from all the apps available out there. Check out our choice of the best employee time tracking apps.

1. TimeCamp

Automated time tracking app with easy-to-use interface

TimeCamp is a free time tracking software with automated features. It comprises a set of project management tools that let you easily administer all work-related activities.

Here are the main features that allow you to easily track employee hours:

• Timesheets for daily, weekly, or monthly time tracking, which can be approved by managers. Employees can also log hours manually (and edited) for more flexible tracking, accommodating non-digital tasks.
• Accurate records with all the time tracking data: start and end times of hours worked, duration, projects and tasks, employees or users, additional information about work, and more.
• Tracking billable and non-billable time (particularly useful for hourly employees).
• Different ways of time tracking—desktop and mobile apps, online timesheet app, GPS tracking with geofencing, Time Kiosk.
• Detailed reporting and analytics with all the important metrics on employee productivity and projects.
• Expense tracking, budgeting, monitoring financials of your company.
• Tracking vacations, sick days, and other types of leave, integrating them into overall time tracking with time off and leave management module.
• Project management and team management functions.
• Integrates well with popular payroll systems.

TimeCamp is suitable for small business owners, large enterprises, freelancers, and teams of different sizes. No matter where you work and how you work.

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2. DOL-Timesheet App

Official Department of Labor app

Here’s the official DOL app. If your job requires you to follow the Department of Labor (DOL) rules strictly, it can be the right choice.

This app helps to keep accurate records of hours on the job, including regular work hours, break time, and overtime hours.

It’a a basic app where you can easily set up your profile with basic information and start tracking time. You can use a start/stop timer or add time manually. It also helps to calculate pay and allows employees and employers to perform overtime pay calculation at a rate of one and one-half times (1.5) the regular rate of pay for all hours you work over 40 in a workweek.

It’s suitable for both salary and hourly workers.

The DOL-Timesheet ap is available only for mobile devices so if you want to incorporate it in your current workflow and make it part of your existing digital infrastructure, it may be challenging as it doesn’t integrate with other apps and tools.

3. Homebase

All-in-one employee scheduling, payroll, and HR

Homebase is an advanced platform that works not only as a time clock station but also as a platform for managing all workforce-related aspects.

Employees can use their smartphones or designated tablets to log their time, ensuring accurate records of when they start and finish their shifts. Employee scheduling allows you to create and share work schedules, shift swap requests, create time-off requests, and schedule notifications so your team knows what’s happening.

You can turn timesheets into paychecks based on tracked time to pay your employees quickly.

Homebase keeps everyone in the loop by combining features such as automatic time tracking, HR, team communication, and easy scheduling.

4. OnTheClock

Online time clock software

OnTheClock is an employee time tracking app that allows your team to automatically track time. Use it instead of employee clocks to automate work and track time spent on work, be it off-site, in the office, or remotely.

The app offers all the necessary features for tracking employee hours and keeping accurate employees record of work—mobile time clock, biometric fingerprint time clock, PTO tracking, basic timesheets, shift scheduling. You can also integrate the tool with the most popular payroll providers.

5. Toggl Track

Simple task tracking app

Toggl is one of the most popular time tracking apps. It’s loved by its fancy, colorful design, and user-friendly user interface.

With this app, you can easily record employee time spent on different tasks and projects. Also, Toggl track’s calendar view lest you track hours in a visual way.

However, Toggl, even with its paid plans doesn’t provide more advanced features. For example, you can’t generate detailed reports or use the time tracking data for

But if you need a minimalistic time tracking software, it will be the right fit. Toggl is best for small teams and people who want basic time tracking

6. QuickBooks Online

Time clock software with accounting

One of the most aspects of tracking employee time is accounting.

The tool offers many granular accounting functionalities. You can track income and expenses, create and sends invoices, accept credit cards for faster payments, snap receipts, or track miles with your smartphone’s GPS for faster financial processing.

QuickBooks can be helpful in payroll processing, HR, and keep track of important financial data. It also helps to manage taxes.

Make sure to check our integration with QuickBooks

To Wrap It Up

When you know how important tracking employee hours is for business, you can more easily implement it in your company.

With the right tools and a healthy approach, time tracking can help you minimize errors, automate work, and help your employees work effectively. That’ll help you gain more clients and prosper in these difficult and turbulent times.

Kate Borucka Kate is a freelance translator, copywriter, and a content writer specializing in time tracking software, time management, and productivity. When not researching new software, she's reading books, or spending time outdoors.

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