How do you guys with employees track their time? Do they fill out time cards and hand them in? Punch a time clock? Write them on a piece of paper and give it to you? Digital? Just curious. I've got to implement an actual system. No full time people, but I have 4 part time currently not counting us two owners. I just told the boys to write down their hours and turn them in at the end of the week. Well...... that's about a joke. I didn't want to go to the trouble of setting up a system because the part time guys only work when they are available and when we need the help. Some weeks all 4 work, some weeks none. Just trying to decide what works best and which way to go.

When I had my shop, I had a system in place for tracking hours, but a shop setting is a little different than how we do things in a LC business. Just looking for ideas and what others have good luck using.

In the long run a Time Clock and Time Cards is the best way to go to keep things on the level.

 

We use intuit programs for everything.

Quick books for book keeping

Intuit workforce for payroll

Quick books time for time keeping/ scheduling etc(used to be called Tsheets.

They are all interconnected and very easy to process .

Regarding the Quick books time- everyone has an app on their phone and punches in and out from there. Everything is tracked real time. I can tell you who is punched in, when they punched in and their precise location as well as the route traveled since they punched in. (We keep the GPS option optional for the employees, I dislike being overbearing.) Many employees employees opt for it though as it makes going to the next job slightly more convenient.

All scheduling is done via the app or on the computer whatever is mors convenient.

All in all I'm pleased with the system.

 

I know you dislike youtube but there are several videos on T sheets and all the different functions. Its very customizable.

 

You’re probably costing yourself money if they are writing it down. They will always round in their favor. There are a ton of companies that have a time clock app that the employees can log into on their phone.

Some are stupidly simple and cheap. Others are robust with features and more money. Just depends what you want.


If you’re using a payroll system, you might see if they offer one or have an integrated with a 3rd party. If not, I can recommend a couple I used over the years.

 

You’re probably costing yourself money if they are writing it down. They will always round in their favor.

They don’t work alone. One of us (owners) are always with them. We’d know if they were “fudging” hours. Besides, none of the boys were “off the street”. Let’s just say I know them all.

 

We’ve just had them sign in and sign out daily on a paper form. Turning hours in all at one time at the end of the week is going to lead to mistakes.

When I supervised a large crew on a construction site I would have the guys sign out on a white board calendar and put their initials next to the hours. This cut down on disputes on what days/hours they worked. Sometimes guys forget they left early for a doctors appointment and come complaining the following week that their pay was short.

 

Are you asking about time in/time out for the day or time in/time out for each job?

Or both?

 

It needs to be both, but that’s more for me. I’m the one on different job’s during the day. I’m horrible about writing down my own time. Most of the jobs we do aren’t time/materials anyway. If they are, I keep better track. Even on bid jobs, I like to know how well we profited at the end. At some point though, the employees will need to log in and out of jobs during the day.

 

We used to use an app. It would track their hours and it had GPS so we knew where they were when they clocked in. But then guys would forget their phones or not pay their bill or say that the app wasn't working right....

So like two seasons ago we stopped using that and we switched to a time clock. That's been really good for us.

We save all of the time cards in case there's ever an issue with an audit or anything like that. Or if one of the guys tries to say we put their time in wrong or whatever. It's nice to have those paper copies.

Oh, and to keep it simple, there are calculators that you can pull up on your phone to add up the times from your time cards. Sounds silly but it saves a bunch of time and make sure you don't make any mistakes. So we add up all of the times and then write the totals at the bottom of everyone's cards. Then we email all of that information into payroll.

 

More or less, we do the same thing that @Mark Stark dose. The following Monday or Tuesday I get an e-mail with the details etc. and every Thursday the money is direct deposited into my checking account.

Everyone has to have an e-mail account and a bank account.....The nice thing about doing it this way, is I don't have to go to the bank and wait in line to cash my check. 😉
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I haven't used it, but I know an employer that uses "Workyard" for his guy's payroll....

Construction Workforce Management Software | Workyard

Construction Workforce Management Software that helps you create more accurate payroll and improve project profitability by measuring and managing your crew through one easy-to-use app.

www.workyard.com

 

We have a timeclock ...mostly to understand productivity and workflow. Its just the 2 of us so we arent worried about time theft from employees

 

Average guy is probably getting an extra $1000 per year. Do your own math

 

@Crazy 4 grass

We currently use Intuit for everything also. QB for invoicing, expenses, finances and accounting. Also using the payroll app. Not sure if I got the QB time when I upgraded for payroll or not. I think I did, but am not currently using it.

So, how does it work? Employees use an app? That won't work for us. We're rural. Phone service is spotty at times. Besides, not everyone carries a phone on them, especially when they are working. We do take an iPad with us to job sites. It has the QB app on it. Even if I had to pass it around for everyone to log in and out of, that's not terrible. I'm fine with them just writing it down, or saving it as a note on their phone and turning it in at the end of the day..... if they'll just do it. That's the current problem. "Oh, I forgot to write it down." Or, "I didn't have my phone so I didn't know what time it was." But like I said, at present, they all work with one of us during the day anyway, so we pretty much know what they worked. (These are just teenage boys. We aren't paying them a lot. $15/hr.)

One of our other brothers drives the dump truck and trailer hauling rock and dirt to job sites or to the yard when he has days off from work. He's not much better about keeping time than the other boys. But we pay him a much higher wage. Truck and trailer are CDL, so he's worth it, but we aren't billing that time. We up the material price to account for hauling, so it's just so much added per ton for trucking.

 

@Crazy 4 grass

We currently use Intuit for everything also. QB for invoicing, expenses, finances and accounting. Also using the payroll app. Not sure if I got the QB time when I upgraded for payroll or not. I think I did, but am not currently using it.

So, how does it work? Employees use an app? That won't work for us. We're rural. Phone service is spotty at times. Besides, not everyone carries a phone on them, especially when they are working. We do take an iPad with us to job sites. It has the QB app on it. Even if I had to pass it around for everyone to log in and out of, that's not terrible. I'm fine with them just writing it down, or saving it as a note on their phone and turning it in at the end of the day..... if they'll just do it. That's the current problem. "Oh, I forgot to write it down." Or, "I didn't have my phone so I didn't know what time it was." But like I said, at present, they all work with one of us during the day anyway, so we pretty much know what they worked. (These are just teenage boys. We aren't paying them a lot. $15/hr.)

One of our other brothers drives the dump truck and trailer hauling rock and dirt to job sites or to the yard when he has days off from work. He's not much better about keeping time than the other boys. But we pay him a much higher wage. Truck and trailer are CDL, so he's worth it, but we aren't billing that time. We up the material price to account for hauling, so it's just so much added per ton for trucking.

Tsheets can be utilized in many ways. It can be used via app on individual phones like I mentioned earlier. It can also be used as you suggested via using a tablet as a mobile time clock. It can also be accessed with the company account online.

One of the biggest benefits is everything is integrated. When we want to run payroll or bill a client we simply run a report and it generates all the information.
It may not be an issue now, but as others mentioned employees writing things down always gets recorded in the employees favor. This elimates all guesswork and rounding.
The employees like it because they know that nothing is left to chance regarding their payroll.

 

We used to have the employees write everything down manually and email their hours over weekly, we found we were losing quite a bit of money as there was quite a bit of lying going on.

Example- employee is supposed to start at 800. He arrives at job at 815. If a manager is on-site he writes down 815 because he is caught. If nobody is around at 815, he writes down 800. Using an app like tsheets eliminated an employees ability to do this. He would have to punch in while still on his commute, not knowing whether or not a manager would be there when he arrived. The potential of getting caught eliminated all of these types of problems.

 

Tsheets has a switch feature as well. When my guys go to a new job or location throughout the day they hit switch and select a new customer and job description.

This essentially is like have many smaller time sheets all being tracked within the course of the day.

Within the reports I can then select a customer and see how many cumulative hours have been worked on their job for example. It automatically generates bar graphs etc

 

And that’s all Intuit, through QB?

 

Just look into quick books time.

 

I think I will. We’re already using all their software, so everything would be seamless. I just wasn’t familiar with it, or knew anyone using it.

And you’re right, I’m not a fan of watching a video online to tell me all about it. 🙄

 

Hear me out on the time card rounding. They punch in. And they punch out. If each punch is rounded 3 mins in their favor , That’s 6 mins per day , 5 days per week, per guy, you can do the math from there.

Even if it’s not a lot of money, you would better to pay them the exact time, and then look like a cool boss and bonus them the money. At least then you get credit for it and they think you care about them.

 

Hear me out on the time card rounding. They punch in. And they punch out. If each punch is rounded 3 mins in their favor , That’s 6 mins per day , 5 days per week, per guy, you can do the math from there.

Even if it’s not a lot of money, you would better to pay them the exact time, and then look like a cool boss and bonus them the money. At least then you get credit for it and they think you care about them.

That can also cut both ways, malicious compliance and all that, not lifting a finger until start time, not answering a phone call cause they’re off the clock or on break. Nothing ruins morale faster than time nazis.

 

If you’re having trouble with tracking job time. 100% the best thing we found was GPS. We have CRM and our guys should punch on and off jobs, but from time to time they mess up and forget. GPS saves the day every single time. Obviously you can get one for your truck.

A second option, we use Zello “2 way radio app” - it has a GPS option. Your guys do nothing except have the app on. It pings once per min. It’s cheap. We love it. Even if you only used it solo for the gps option.

 

I've had workers for 36 yrs. Milking the clock was never an issue. 24 years as a building contractor, also my brother and I owned 3 sawmills. Put out 3 mill board ft of hardwood lumber per yr. Now 13 yrs lawncare.
Some day's they may add 15 minutes some days they're 10 minutes early and put down 8:00 anyway. They are hopefully adults and don't abuse it.
That said. One of my guy's broke 2 windows last yr. $350 & $700.
I paid for out of pocket.
Come end of season me and him were bs,ing at shop. I was teasing him about breaking 2 windows this yr. He said, yes but I paid for them! I said hows that? He had been deducting a couple hrs each week on his timecard. So there are good human beings out there.
Also i never micro manage them.
Everyone has a weekly schedule that they know has to get finished period. 5 day's to getter done. They can take breaks or not, never have to ask. I never care. Simply put. If you are billing properly, and know there will be (say 10% unproductive time) each week. Bake that into your price.
People aren't oxen.
Years ago a told a young fellow I hired. I expect you to work hard, but as the bible says. Never muzzle the ox who's grinding your grain.
(Meaning... if the ox is working hard and wants to stop once in awhile to eat some spilled grain, he deserves it.) So you charge a few more cents per bushel to cover the ox feed and break.
He has told me years later that statement changed his entire outlook on work.

 

They can take breaks or not, never have to ask. I never care.

That’s how we operate as well. I tell the guys to take a break if they need to. I stop when I’m hot or tired. They can too.

I also pay them all day, even though they get a lunch break. Time starts when we leave, ends when we get back. We usually stop for 20-30 minutes for lunch. It’s paid. We all pack lunch and snacks. I supply water and 1 bottle Gatorade.

 

This is what i do. I dont know about the legalities of it but it works for me.

My guys have time card boxes with a sprial ruled note card in it. Pay week starts on Friday and ends on Thursday. Day/date/In/out is written at the top and they fill it out day by day. Any discrepancies and I check it against the trucks GPS. They clock in when they show up and clock out when they leave.

At the end of the week I add it all up.

With that said, I pay OT. I also take out 30 minutes for lunch each day. According to the FLSA an employer must give a lunch break but it doesnt have to be paid. If they work past 5 in the evening I take off an hour.

Lets be honest here. In mowing there is a lot of window time. Some days drive time throughout a day can add up to 2 hours or more. Thats 2+ hours of work that isnt being billed. Thats 2+ hours of break time. Thats 1 + hours of break time MORE than Im required to give.

I have never had an employee complain about it and frankly i think its more than fair.

 

This is what i do. I dont know about the legalities of it but it works for me.

My guys have time card boxes with a sprial ruled note card in it. Pay week starts on Friday and ends on Thursday. Day/date/In/out is written at the top and they fill it out day by day. Any discrepancies and I check it against the trucks GPS. They clock in when they show up and clock out when they leave.

At the end of the week I add it all up.

With that said, I pay OT. I also take out 30 minutes for lunch each day. According to the FLSA an employer must give a lunch break but it doesnt have to be paid. If they work past 5 in the evening I take off an hour.

Lets be honest here. In mowing there is a lot of window time. Some days drive time throughout a day can add up to 2 hours or more. Thats 2+ hours of work that isnt being billed. Thats 2+ hours of break time. Thats 1 + hours of break time MORE than Im required to give.

I have never had an employee complain about it and frankly i think its more than fair.

You take off more time if they work longer?

 

How do you guys with employees track their time?

We have a binder with a timesheets that the employees keep in their car. They must fill them out each day and turn them in the last day of payroll period which is two weeks. Truth is, if you are going to get serious about employment and get worker's comp (which it sounds like you are not there yet), not only will you need them to track their hours, but they or you will need to document what type of work they are doing. Since you've said that you do different types of construction, different work needs to get classified.
I got a work comp audit the very first year in business, had this system down and passed with flying colors. Never heard from them again in 11 years...

 

How many separate categories do you have? The only thing they ever asked me to do was document my snow removal payroll. Other than that everything is the same.

 

Only work until 4:59, not 5:01.

 

Then work till 459. Doesnt bother me.

But again, where did I say I deducted drive time?

 

Misread your post, but sounds like that’s what you’re getting at. What are you deducting after 5? Just seems arbitrary. I guess my employees work hard and I clock them in when they show up and clock them out when they leave.

 

Nope it not what Im getting at. What Im getting at is that an employer you are required to give your employees a certain amount of time for breaks. What you are NOT requied to do is compensate them for that time. All Im doing is deducting that time from their hours.

My point about drive time is that they ALREADY get a ton of window time driving around. On top of that they get to still sit somewhere for 30 minutes to eat lunch. Thats a lot of breaks and downtime throughout the day.

 

Totally ilegal what you are doing. It just takes one disgruntled ex employee to report you to the DOL and you’ll end up paying thousands in back pay.

 

Totally ilegal what you are doing. It just takes one dis

Why is not compensating my employees for their breaks illegal? The law says I dont have to.

 

They are driving around for 2 hours as part of the job you told them to do? The employee didn’t make the route that required them to drive for that long.

 

Thats not the point.

Whats the difference between them driving around in a truck for 15 minutes or sitting at a gas station in the truck for 15 minutes?


Nothing