Glossary · Time and attendance
Time and attendance
Time and attendance is the practice of recording when employees start and stop work, how many hours they worked and whether they were present as scheduled. The records feed payroll, job costing and compliance, and in the United States employers must keep hours worked for each nonexempt employee.
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What does time and attendance record?
Time and attendance records when each person worked and for how long. Federal recordkeeping rules require employers to keep the hours worked each workday and the total hours worked each workweek for each covered employee, along with the time of day and day of the week the workweek begins.
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Start and stop time | The basis of hours worked and pay |
| Jobsite or location | Allocates hours to a job for costing and reporting |
| Breaks | Affects paid hours and meal period rules |
| Absences and time off | Separates a day not worked from a missed punch |
| Corrections and who made them | Keeps an audit trail when a record changes |
How is time and attendance captured?
- Paper
- Handwritten sheets filled in by the worker or foreman. Cheap, and easy to get wrong.
- Punch clock or kiosk
- A device at a fixed place, which suits one building more than a changing jobsite.
- Phone app
- An app on a worker's phone. See BYOD.
- Badge
- A company-issued device that records presence on its own. See geofence time clock.
Which method fits depends on whether the crew works in one place or moves between jobsites.
What does time and attendance look like for a field crew?
A foreman's day, recorded
- Shift start
- 6:30 AM at Jobsite A
- Between jobsites
- 45 minutes, Jobsite A to Jobsite B
- Shift end
- 3:00 PM at Jobsite B
- Unpaid lunch
- 30 minutes
- Hours worked
- 8 h 30 min elapsed minus 0 h 30 min lunch = 8 h 00 min
Illustrative. Break and travel pay rules depend on the state and company policy. See timesheet rounding for how times become pay.
Frequently asked questions
Is time and attendance the same as payroll?
Do employers have to track time and attendance?
What is the difference between time and attendance and time tracking?
Sources
- 1.29 CFR 516.2, Employees subject to minimum wage or minimum wage and overtime provisions · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
