Construction overtime tracking

See the overtime coming while there's still time to move a crew.

Construction overtime tracking means knowing during the week which workers are heading past the overtime line and which jobs those hours are landing on. ZeroBadge records each shift from a company badge, applies the daily and weekly thresholds you set, splits every worker's week into regular and overtime hours and shows them by jobsite. The week in progress is visible as it happens, so overtime shows up on Wednesday instead of at payroll.

Federal law sets overtime by the week: more than 40 hours in a workweek at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate (29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1)). Some states, California among them, add daily overtime.

Get started Same 40 hours, two answers

Daily and weekly thresholds you set
Overtime by jobsite
Each workweek counted on its own

ZeroBadgeTimesheetsWeek of Oct 5

Lena O.

Foreman

Badge-recorded

Day

In → Out

Locations

Recorded

Mon7:00 AM → 4:31 PM2 locations9h 31m
Tue6:30 AM → 3:50 PM4 locations9h 20m
On site7h 20mTransit1h 35mOther25m
Wed7:00 AM → 4:36 PM2 locations9h 36m
Thu7:00 AM → 4:16 PM2 locations9h 16m
Fri7:07 AM → 4:03 PM2 locations8h 56m

Week recorded

46.7 h

Overtime

6.7 h

Why overtime surprises contractors

Overtime is usually found on Monday, when the week it happened in is already over.

Counted after the fact
Hours are totaled when the timesheets come in. By then the Saturday that pushed three journeymen past 40 has been worked and paid for.
Split by hand
Daily and weekly thresholds get applied in a spreadsheet, and the regular and overtime split depends on who did it that week.
Averaged across a pay period
A biweekly payroll of 32 and 48 hours looks like two 40-hour weeks. Federal rules take each workweek on its own and don't allow averaging (29 CFR 778.104), so the second week carries 8 overtime hours.
Landing on the wrong job
The premium shows up as a company-wide number. Nobody can say it came from the fixed-price job that fell behind.

Daily and weekly rules

The same 40 hours: no overtime under a weekly rule, 6 hours under a daily rule.

A pipefitter works long days early in the week and short ones at the end. Federal rules look only at the week. An 8-hour daily threshold, like California's, looks at each day too.

The same 40 hours: no overtime under a weekly rule, 6 hours under a daily rule.
Day	Weekly rule only (over 40)	Daily rule (over 8) plus weekly
Monday: 10 hours at the hospital job	No overtime	2 hours overtime
Tuesday: 10 hours at the hospital job	No overtime	2 hours overtime
Wednesday: 10 hours, hospital and a TI	No overtime	2 hours overtime
Thursday: 6 hours at the TI	No overtime	No overtime
Friday: 4 hours at the shop	No overtime	No overtime
Week: 40 hours	0 overtime hours	6 overtime hours, 34 regular

Monday: 10 hours at the hospital job
Weekly rule only (over 40)
No overtime
Daily rule (over 8) plus weekly
2 hours overtime
Tuesday: 10 hours at the hospital job
Weekly rule only (over 40)
No overtime
Daily rule (over 8) plus weekly
2 hours overtime
Wednesday: 10 hours, hospital and a TI
Weekly rule only (over 40)
No overtime
Daily rule (over 8) plus weekly
2 hours overtime
Thursday: 6 hours at the TI
Weekly rule only (over 40)
No overtime
Daily rule (over 8) plus weekly
No overtime
Friday: 4 hours at the shop
Weekly rule only (over 40)
No overtime
Daily rule (over 8) plus weekly
No overtime
Week: 40 hours
Weekly rule only (over 40)
0 overtime hours
Daily rule (over 8) plus weekly
6 overtime hours, 34 regular

California also requires double time over 12 hours in a workday and on parts of a seventh consecutive day, and alternative workweek schedules and some agreements change the rules. ZeroBadge splits hours using one daily and one weekly threshold that you set. It does not split out double time or seventh-day premiums; the hours by day are in the record for your payroll provider to apply. It applies the rule you configure and does not decide which rules cover your workforce.

Watching it build

One week, day by day: where a super can still change the outcome.

A sheet metal journeyman on a Saturday-to-Friday week. The current week's timesheet is available while the week is in progress, so the office sees hours to date, not just the final total.

One week, day by day: where a super can still change the outcome.
Day	Hours so far, by jobsite	What the office can still do
Monday	10.5 at the lab job (ductwork). Week: 10.5.	Nothing yet. One long day is normal.
Tuesday	8 at the lab, 3 at the retail TI after a site transfer. Week: 21.5.	Note the pace: over 50 hours by Friday if it holds.
Wednesday	11 at the lab. Week: 32.5.	Decide now: send an apprentice to the TI on Thursday, or approve the overtime knowing which job it lands on.
Thursday	9 at the TI. Week: 41.5.	Overtime has started. Friday's hours are all premium hours.
Friday	7 at the TI. Week: 48.5.	8.5 overtime hours under a weekly rule, on the timesheet for approval.

Monday
Hours so far, by jobsite
10.5 at the lab job (ductwork). Week: 10.5.
What the office can still do
Nothing yet. One long day is normal.
Tuesday
Hours so far, by jobsite
8 at the lab, 3 at the retail TI after a site transfer. Week: 21.5.
What the office can still do
Note the pace: over 50 hours by Friday if it holds.
Wednesday
Hours so far, by jobsite
11 at the lab. Week: 32.5.
What the office can still do
Decide now: send an apprentice to the TI on Thursday, or approve the overtime knowing which job it lands on.
Thursday
Hours so far, by jobsite
9 at the TI. Week: 41.5.
What the office can still do
Overtime has started. Friday's hours are all premium hours.
Friday
Hours so far, by jobsite
7 at the TI. Week: 48.5.
What the office can still do
8.5 overtime hours under a weekly rule, on the timesheet for approval.

Hours are recorded from badge on to badge off. ZeroBadge does not deduct an unpaid meal break automatically, so apply your break policy in review or in payroll.

Overtime by job and site

Overtime is a weekly fact. Its cost still belongs to the jobs that caused it.

A worker reaches overtime across the whole week, not at one jobsite, so ZeroBadge attributes the overtime to jobs by each job's share of that worker's hours. A worker with 48 hours, 30 at Job A and 18 at Job B, has 8 overtime hours: 5 attributed to Job A (30 of 48) and 3 to Job B (18 of 48).

Added up across the crew, that shows where the premium is concentrating. When one job carries most of the company's overtime two weeks running, that is a schedule or staffing conversation to have now. The cost side, with loaded rates and budgets, is in labor cost tracking.

Regular and overtime
Split under your thresholds, per worker, per workweek.
By jobsite
Hours and overtime allocated to each job, shop and supplier location.
Week over week
Overtime by site compared with the week before.

ZeroBadgeWorkforceLabor by jobsite

Recorded

1,045.2 h

Overtime

95.7 h

Workers

Riverside Medical Pavilion
375.0 h
▲ +129.9 h vs prior week · OT 38.3 h◆ Plan 340.0 h
Harbor Yard Distribution Center
300.8 h
▼ −97.0 h vs prior week · OT 3.8 hPlan 310.0 h
Northgate Tower
328.9 h
▼ −1.4 h vs prior week · OT 17.6 hPlan 330.0 h

What changed

Riverside Medical Pavilion recorded 375.0 hours, up 129.9 hours (+53%) from the week of Sep 28.

3 workers (Ben C., Mateo G., Rosa D.) recorded time at Riverside from Tue Oct 6 after working at Harbor Yard. Their time accounts for 108.8 of the added hours.

Overtime rule shown: after 8 hours in a day or 40 regular hours in a week. Overtime cost adds a 0.5× premium on base wage to the loaded hourly rate. Your own payroll rules apply.

Three overtime calls

Three moments when the record changes an overtime decision.

Three moments when the record changes an overtime decision.
The moment	What the record shows	What happens
Wednesday, 2:00 PM. A mechanical super plans a Saturday start-up with two journeymen.	Both are at 33 and 34 hours with two weekdays left.	He staffs Saturday with a journeyman who is at 24 hours and an apprentice. The start-up happens without a full day of premium time.
Friday, 6:10 AM. The office opens the week in progress.	A badge that ran from 6:00 AM Thursday until 5:40 this morning, ending at a worker's house.	The missing clock-out and time outside approved sites are on the exceptions list. A supervisor ends the shift at 3:15 PM with the reason, and more than 14 hours that were never worked stay off payroll.
Monday. Payroll runs every two weeks.	Week one: 32 hours. Week two: 48 hours.	The period is split into its two workweeks before the weekly threshold is applied, so week two carries 8 overtime hours instead of averaging to none.

Wednesday, 2:00 PM. A mechanical super plans a Saturday start-up with two journeymen.
What the record shows
Both are at 33 and 34 hours with two weekdays left.
What happens
He staffs Saturday with a journeyman who is at 24 hours and an apprentice. The start-up happens without a full day of premium time.
Friday, 6:10 AM. The office opens the week in progress.
What the record shows
A badge that ran from 6:00 AM Thursday until 5:40 this morning, ending at a worker's house.
What happens
The missing clock-out and time outside approved sites are on the exceptions list. A supervisor ends the shift at 3:15 PM with the reason, and more than 14 hours that were never worked stay off payroll.
Monday. Payroll runs every two weeks.
What the record shows
Week one: 32 hours. Week two: 48 hours.
What happens
The period is split into its two workweeks before the weekly threshold is applied, so week two carries 8 overtime hours instead of averaging to none.

Ways to track overtime

Four ways contractors track overtime, compared.

How each method finds and splits overtime
Compare	ZeroBadgeBadge-recorded hours	Paper and a spreadsheetTotaled in the office	Payroll system aloneHours keyed in	Phone appWorker's own phone
When overtime is visible	During the week	After sheets come in	At payroll	During the week
Daily and weekly thresholds	Both, as you set them	By formula, if it is right	Usually, on keyed hours	Usually
Overtime by jobsite	Allocated from where hours were spent	From job codes written later	Only if hours were coded	If the worker picks a job
Double time and seventh day	Not split out	If someone builds it	Often supported	Some apps
A badge or phone left on	Flagged on the exceptions list	Not applicable	Paid as keyed	Depends on the app

Compare ZeroBadge with

How each method finds and splits overtime: ZeroBadge compared with Spreadsheet
ZeroBadge	Spreadsheet
When overtime is visible
During the week	After sheets come in
Daily and weekly thresholds
Both, as you set them	By formula, if it is right
Overtime by jobsite
Allocated from where hours were spent	From job codes written later
Double time and seventh day
Not split out	If someone builds it
A badge or phone left on
Flagged on the exceptions list	Not applicable

The tradeoff

Many payroll systems already calculate California double time and seventh-day premiums, and ZeroBadge does not. What ZeroBadge adds is the hours behind them, recorded by day and jobsite and visible while the week can still change. Badges have to be charged, assigned and collected for that to work.

ZeroBadge AI

Ask ZeroBadge AI who is close to overtime

Ask while there is still time to move a crew. ZeroBadge AI reads the hours your badges recorded against the thresholds you set, links each figure to its timesheets and cannot change a threshold or a record. Admins decide who can ask.

You ask
Who is within 4 hours of weekly overtime right now?
Eight workers have 36 hours or more with two days left in the workweek, and five of them are on the Elm Street crew.
You ask
How much overtime did each jobsite have this period?
Elm Street 61 hours, Harbor Road 44 and Pine Ridge 18. Overtime is counted per workweek, so a worker's hours on several jobs add up before the threshold applies.
You ask
Which workers went over the daily threshold more than twice this week?
Six. Four were at Elm Street and two split their time with the shop. Each name opens the days over the threshold.

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 about tracking overtime on construction crews.

How is weekly overtime calculated under federal law?

Hours over 40 in a workweek are paid at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate (29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1)). Each workweek stands alone: hours are not averaged across two weeks (29 CFR 778.104). This is general information, not legal advice.

Does California require daily overtime for construction workers?

California's general rule is time and a half over 8 hours in a workday and over 40 in a workweek, and double time over 12 hours in a day, per the Labor Commissioner. Alternative workweek schedules and some collective bargaining agreements change this. See California construction overtime rules.

Can I see overtime before the week ends?

Yes. The current week's timesheet is available while the week is in progress, with each worker's hours to date by jobsite. A super can see who is at 33 hours on Wednesday and staff Saturday around it.

How is overtime split between jobs?

By each job's share of the worker's hours that week. 8 overtime hours on a 48-hour week with 30 hours at Job A go 5 to Job A and 3 to Job B. Overtime itself is still counted on the whole week.

Does drive time count toward overtime?

Travel between job sites during the workday is hours worked under federal rules, so it counts toward the weekly threshold. ZeroBadge records it as transit inside the shift. See drive time tracking.

Does ZeroBadge calculate double time?

No. ZeroBadge splits hours into regular and overtime using one daily and one weekly threshold. Double time and seventh-day premiums are applied in your payroll system from the hours by day that ZeroBadge sends.

Keep exploring

Next: labor cost, drive time and payroll.

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

Last updated October 29, 2026

Sources

1.29 U.S.C. 207, Maximum hours · Office of the Law Revision Counsel, US House of Representatives
2.29 CFR 778.104, Each workweek stands alone · Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
3.Overtime, frequently asked questions · California Department of Industrial Relations, Labor Commissioner's Office

Get started

Catch the overtime on Wednesday.

We'll walk through your thresholds, the week in progress and overtime by jobsite, set up around your pay period.

Get started Labor cost tracking

What we will walk through

01Daily and weekly thresholds for your workforce
02Hours to date by worker and jobsite
03Overtime by job, week over week