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Union contractor time tracking

Union contractor time tracking that stands up on the remittance report.

Union contractor time tracking has to produce hours you can defend twice: once on the monthly fringe benefit remittance report, and again years later in a trust fund payroll audit. ZeroBadge records each worker's shift from a company badge and allocates every hour to a jobsite, so hours by worker, day and job are on record. Introducing it can be a subject of bargaining, so start with labor counsel and the business agent.

This page covers time records and the rollout conversation. This is general information, not legal advice.

Get startedRead the bargaining note
  • Hours by worker, day and jobsite
  • Corrections keep an audit trail
  • One month or more of battery life*

*Under qualifying operating conditions. Battery life varies with reporting frequency, signal conditions, usage, and configuration.

Crews by jobsite

Jobsite

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Hours

Riverside610999375.0
Harbor Yard107777300.8
Northgate88888328.9
Counts are distinct workers with badge-recorded time at the site that day.

What ZeroBadge does for you

How ZeroBadge helps union contractors

One company badge per worker covers safety alerts, timekeeping, labor analytics and ZeroBadge AI. Here is what each part does in your line of work.

  • 01

    Worker safety

    A journeyman working alone in a basement or on a roof can press SOS or the alert button, and the office sees which jobsite the alert came from.

    Learn more

  • 02

    Workforce management

    See which workers are on which jobsites, travelers included, and spot a late start or a missing crew before the day falls behind.

    Learn more

  • 03

    Automated timekeeping

    Badge on starts the shift and badge off ends it, so hours by worker and day come from a record instead of a foreman's notebook.

    Learn more

  • 04

    Workforce productivity

    Compare actual hours against the plan for each job and see overtime where it sat, so labor cost matches what was worked.

    Learn more

  • 05

    Location analytics

    GPS outdoors and Wi-Fi positioning indoors place each shift at the jobsite you drew, and the badge is off between shifts.

    Learn more

  • 06

    Field logistics

    Balance crews across jobs using the record of where each worker spent the week, so assignments follow the work that is running behind.

    Learn more

  • 07

    AI advisory and analytics

    Ask how many hours each worker logged on a job last month and get an answer from your own records, with every number linked to its source.

    Learn more

Safety alerts support your safety program. They do not replace supervision or training, ZeroBadge does not monitor alerts or contact 911, and in an emergency workers should call 911.

Where remittance reports go wrong

Every fringe dollar is calculated from an hour somebody wrote down.

A signatory contractor reports hours worked for each member to the trust funds every month and pays contributions on them. The rates come from the agreement. The hours come from your timesheets, and that is where errors start.

  • Hours rebuilt from memory

    A foreman fills in the crew sheet on Friday for the whole week. Rounding and forgotten overtime flow straight into the remittance report.

  • Travelers and jurisdiction

    A journeyman from another local works a job in your area. Which fund gets the contributions can depend on where the work was done, so the jobsite on each hour matters.

  • Different agreements on different jobs

    A project labor agreement on one job and the area agreement on another can carry different terms. Hours lumped into a weekly total can't be split afterwards.

  • The audit years later

    Trust funds audit contributing employers' payroll records. An auditor asking for the timecards behind a 2024 report wants originals, not a spreadsheet retyped after the fact.

Before you roll out

New timekeeping or monitoring technology can be a mandatory subject of bargaining. Talk to labor counsel and the business agent first.

Section 8(d) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 158(d), defines collective bargaining as the mutual obligation to confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment, and section 8(a)(5) makes refusing to bargain an unfair labor practice. The NLRB explains that an employer generally may not change a mandatory subject without first bargaining to agreement or impasse, and during a contract only where the union has clearly and unmistakably waived bargaining or the change is too minor. The Board has held hidden surveillance cameras to be a mandatory subject (Colgate-Palmolive, 323 NLRB 515), and the Seventh Circuit enforced that rule in National Steel Corp. v. NLRB (2003). Whether a GPS timekeeping badge must be bargained depends on your agreement, its management-rights language and the facts.

This is general information, not legal advice. Sources: 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(5) and (d); NLRB guidance on bargaining in good faith; National Steel Corp. v. NLRB (7th Cir. 2003).

A rollout that starts with the union

Bring the business agent in before the first badge is handed out.

An order that works for many signatory contractors. Your counsel may change it for your agreement.

  1. 01

    Ask labor counsel

    Have counsel read your agreement, including any management-rights or technology clause, and tell you whether notice and an offer to bargain are needed.

    Owner · first

  2. 02

    Talk to the business agent

    Explain what the badge records and what it doesn't: shift start and end, time at each jobsite, nothing between shifts. Offer to bargain over the decision or its effects as counsel advises.

    Owner and counsel

  3. 03

    Put the rules in writing

    Badges are company-owned and worn during paid shifts only, powered off between shifts. Raw location history is deleted after 90 days; timesheets are kept. Say who in the office can see the data.

    Before rollout

  4. 04

    Pilot one crew

    Start with one foreman's crew. Members can see their own hours in the worker portal and request corrections, which keeps disputes on the record instead of in the hall.

    First month

Why the hours matter

Late or short contributions are expensive under federal law.

The obligation to contribute and the remedies for missing it are in ERISA, not only in the agreement.

  • The duty to contribute

    Under 29 U.S.C. 1145 (ERISA section 515), an employer obligated to contribute to a multiemployer plan under the plan or a collective bargaining agreement must contribute in accordance with those terms.

  • When a fund sues

    If a fund wins an action for delinquent contributions, 29 U.S.C. 1132(g)(2) directs the court to award the unpaid contributions, interest, the greater of that interest or liquidated damages under the plan (generally capped at 20 percent of the unpaid amount), and reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

  • Where hours fit

    Contributions are usually calculated per hour worked, so an understated hour is an underpaid contribution and an overstated one is money you didn't owe. Your agreement and trust documents set the details.

  • Public work

    ZeroBadge aids certified payroll reporting by supplying verified hours by worker, day and jobsite. It does not produce or file certified payroll on its own; final certified payroll reports require review by a qualified person.

This is general information, not legal advice. Last checked against the primary sources on 2026-10-29.

What members ask

The questions a steward or a crew will raise, answered plainly.

  • Is it on when I'm off the clock?

    No. The badge is powered on to start the shift and off to end it. Between shifts it is off and records nothing.

  • Does it go home with me?

    That is your company's policy. Many contractors keep badges in the gang box or the shop between shifts.

  • Can a supervisor change my hours?

    Corrections are possible, and every one keeps an audit trail of what changed, when and by whom. Nothing is silently edited.

  • Can I see my own hours?

    Yes, through the optional worker web portal, where a worker can also request a correction.

Go deeper

Where union contractors usually look next.

ZeroBadge AI

Ask ZeroBadge AI about your crews and jobs

Questions go in as plain English, answers come from your own records, and every figure opens the records behind it.

  • You ask

    How many hours did each worker log on the Harbor Tower job last month?

    Thirty-one workers logged 4,118 hours, listed by worker and day. Each number links to the shifts behind it, so the person preparing your report can check them.

  • You ask

    Which workers have exceptions before I approve the week?

    Five exceptions: two late starts, two missing power-offs and one stretch outside the drawn site. Each opens its record, and any correction keeps an audit trail.

  • You ask

    How many hours were recorded at jobsites compared with the shop?

    Jobsites accounted for 3,904 hours and the shop for 214, recorded on separate lines. Each total links to the shifts behind it.

Answers come only from your company's own records. Every number links to the records behind it. Read-only; admins control access.

How ZeroBadge AI works

Questions

Questions union contractors ask.

Do we have to bargain with the union before introducing time tracking badges?
It may be required. Under the NLRA, changes to wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment are mandatory subjects of bargaining, and the NLRB has treated some workplace monitoring as one. Whether badges qualify depends on your agreement and the facts. Ask labor counsel and talk to the business agent before rollout. This is general information, not legal advice.
Does ZeroBadge calculate fringe benefit contributions?
No. It records hours by worker, day and jobsite and sends approved hours to your payroll provider, with CSV, Excel or PDF export. Rates and fund splits are applied in your payroll or remittance process.
Can the record help with a trust fund payroll audit?
It gives the auditor the weekly timesheets behind each month, kept as unchangeable PDF versions with a trail of every correction. The audit itself covers more, including payroll registers and remittance copies.
Does it track classifications such as journeyman and apprentice?
No. The badge records when and where someone worked. Classification and ratios live in your payroll and dispatch records.
What happens to location data?
Badges record only during paid shifts. Raw location history is deleted after 90 days; the timesheets built from it are kept. More in is it legal to track employees by GPS.

This is general information, not legal advice. Laws differ by state and change over time.

Last updated

Sources

  1. 1.29 U.S.C. 158(d) and 158(a)(5), National Labor Relations Act section 8 · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
  2. 2.Bargaining in good faith with employees' union representative (Section 8(d) and 8(a)(5)) · National Labor Relations Board
  3. 3.National Steel Corp. v. NLRB, Nos. 01-3798 and 01-4149 (7th Cir. April 7, 2003), enforcing the Board's Colgate-Palmolive Co., 323 NLRB 515 (1997) rule on hidden cameras · US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (via FindLaw)
  4. 4.29 U.S.C. 1145, ERISA section 515: delinquent contributions · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
  5. 5.29 U.S.C. 1132(g)(2), ERISA section 502(g)(2): remedies in an action for delinquent contributions · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

Get started

See the hours behind a month's remittance report.

We'll walk through ZeroBadge with your crews, your reporting month and the conversation you plan to have with the union.

Get startedSee the platform

What we will walk through

  • 01Hours by worker, day and jobsite from badge records
  • 02Correction trail and unchangeable weekly PDFs for audits
  • 03Approved hours sent to your payroll provider