The Tool Desk
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Good team time tracking records the hours and work categories needed for payroll, billing, project costing, or planning—without collecting more information than those purposes require. Make the reason for tracking clear, define simple entry rules, set a predictable submission and review cycle, and give employees a way to check and correct their records. Attendance tracking and project time allocation are related but distinct processes, so design each for its actual use.
Start with the purpose of each time record
Before choosing a form or app, decide what the record must establish. Payroll and attendance processes generally need to capture hours worked and relevant attendance categories. Project or task tracking allocates time among types of work so a team can assess costs, billing, estimates, or workload. Some organizations need both, but one record should not be assumed to serve every purpose without clear categories and controls.
Tell employees how the data will be used and who can access it. Atlassian recommends explaining why tracking matters and setting a clear policy. A process framed around a specific operational need is easier to understand and less likely to become a catch-all measure of employee productivity. See Atlassian’s time-tracking guidance.
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Write rules employees can follow
A practical time-tracking policy should answer the questions employees and reviewers will encounter during an ordinary workweek:
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- Which hours, projects, tasks, or activities must be recorded?
- What categories should employees use, and what should they do when work does not fit a direct project?
- How should leave, breaks, schedule changes, and corrections be represented?
- How precise should an entry be, and when is rounding allowed or required?
- When are entries due, and who reviews and approves them?
- How will the organization use the records, and who may view them?
Use familiar project and activity names rather than internal shorthand employees may not recognize. Do not make workers guess where to charge time. For labor charged to contracts or grants by commercial organizations, NIH guidance says hours should be reported and distributed according to the work performed, not according to funding availability. That guidance is specific to its contract-and-grant context; it is not a universal employment rule. Read NIH’s time and effort reporting guidance for commercial organizations.
Choose a reporting cycle that fits the work
Encourage employees to enter time close to when the work happens, while setting a regular deadline for final submission. Timely entries are easier to recall and review than reconstructed records. For project control, align the timekeeping period with the dates used to assess project progress. PMI gives a Monday-through-Sunday timekeeping period as an example when project status is assessed through Sunday; it is an illustration, not a required deadline for every team. See PMI’s discussion of timekeeping status dates.
For payroll, set the deadline and approval steps to fit the organization’s pay cycle and applicable local requirements. The available guidance does not establish one ideal submission frequency or deadline for every workplace. Publish the actual dates employees must follow, including what to do if a deadline is missed.
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Separate entry, review, approval, and correction duties
Employees should be able to enter and inspect their own records; managers or designated timekeepers should review and approve them. The University of Pennsylvania’s Workday guidance assigns workers responsibility for entering accurate time and submitting timesheets promptly, while managers and timekeepers have review and approval duties. That is a useful operational model, though specific roles and systems vary. See Penn’s Workday time-tracking guide.
State who can make changes after submission, how the employee will see a change, and whether the employee must confirm or attest to it. Keep a record of what changed and who made the change. In its guidance for commercial contract and grant labor, NIH says timesheet changes should be made by the employee and initialed, and calls for separation between timekeeping and payroll accounting. Apply controls suited to the organization’s context rather than treating that source as a rule for every employer. NIH’s guidance provides the underlying context.
Use the least intrusive method that meets the need
If the purpose is to establish reported hours, a timesheet or time-entry system may be enough. That is different from monitoring screens, keystrokes, webcams, or broad productivity signals. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) says employers should identify an appropriate lawful basis for monitoring and use the least intrusive means that achieves the purpose. Buying a monitoring product does not transfer the employer’s data-protection responsibility to the vendor. See the ICO’s worker-monitoring guidance.
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The ICO describes an employer responding to a small number of discrepancies in remote workers’ start times by introducing webcam images. It considers that likely disproportionate where checking system login times and allowing workers to explain discrepancies could address the issue. The example does not decide every monitoring case; it illustrates why a targeted, less intrusive check should be considered before expanding surveillance. Monitoring rules and lawful bases depend on the circumstances and jurisdiction.
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Choose paper or software around the workflow
Paper and electronic timesheets can both work. Choose based on how many people submit time, the variety of schedules and locations, payroll or project systems, approval needs, auditability, and access requirements—not on an assumption that one format is universally superior. Compare options against these needs:
- Usable categories: Can employees find the right project or activity without guesswork?
- Employee control: Can people enter, review, and correct their own records?
- Reviewer workflow: Can managers approve or return entries, with a clear history?
- Outputs: Do reports and exports fit payroll, billing, costing, or planning processes?
- Privacy: Does the system collect only what is needed for the stated purpose, and does the organization provide suitable privacy information?
- Coverage: Can the process handle the team’s schedules, locations, and worker groups?
Verify current features, integrations, pricing, and legal suitability directly before selecting a tool. No single vendor or collection method is established as best for all teams.
Check local requirements before finalizing the policy
Employment rules for recordkeeping, overtime, retention, collective bargaining, and monitoring vary by location and worker category. The ICO guidance concerns UK data-protection responsibilities; NIH’s time-and-effort guidance addresses commercial organizations documenting salary and wage costs charged to contracts and grants. Neither source is a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction checklist for every employer. Confirm applicable local requirements before setting precise record formats, retention periods, or monitoring practices.
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