It is the employer who decides how working time is recorded in a company. However, this often neglects what the employees would actually like. Of course, this cannot always be taken into account. But the expectations of employees should at least be taken into account in the decision-making process.
What do employees want from time recording?
Humans are creatures of habit. This is no different when it comes to recording working hours. According to a study conducted by tisoware in early 2023 with 1,000 employees from medium-sized companies, most employees would like more insight and clarity about what they record and why. Few employees are worried about constant monitoring. Instead, they are aware of the fact that more modern time recording systems give them a better overview of their overtime. They see this as a win-win situation for companies and employees. Above all, employees want to record their working hours using transparent methods. Almost half of employees apparently find it particularly difficult to record working hours when working from home. This is a particular problem in times of hybrid working models. So there is still a lot of catching up to do here. This is probably mainly due to stationary methods that cannot be taken home. Opinions are somewhat divided when it comes to estimating the additional effort involved. Just over a third are of the opinion that the effort involved is not too high. However, slightly less than a third are of the opinion that it is a lot of additional effort or are neutral towards the effort. Smoking breaks remain a perennial reason for discussion. Slightly less than half of employees are of the opinion that these should be recorded as breaks and should therefore not be paid. For 21% of respondents, on the other hand, it is a reason for dismissal if they have to record either smoking breaks or toilet breaks as breaks. In general, some employers would of course record more working time. For example, 19% are of the opinion that if working time is recorded accurately, the working time itself should also be recorded. 13% also see the journey to work as working time.
Introduce new methods or stick with the tried and tested?
Of course, you can’t please everyone. The findings from the tisoware study show this relatively clearly. The best approach is always to refer to the legal situation itself. For example, according to the Working Hours Act or labor law, smoking breaks are to be recorded as breaks, while time spent on the toilet is not working time, but the clock may simply continue to run. In general, the majority of employees are of the opinion that a new method of recording working time in the company in which they are employed would be desirable. However, the opposite view is also strongly represented. Overall, 38% of employees believe that the time recording system at their workplace should be improved. 31% are of the opinion that it does not need to be. The remaining 31% are neutral. Up to now, most employees have only recorded the start and end of their shift. Smoking breaks, coffee breaks, conversations with colleagues or other short breaks are only taken into account by around 12% of employees. Only 18% of employees record their working hours accurately, for example by taking individual tasks or projects into account. Unfortunately, the study does not reveal whether this is because the effort involved is too high for them or because the company’s current time recording system simply does not provide these options. What is certain is that more detailed recording would be possible with modern methods of recording working time.
Conclusion
In most cases, employees have to take care of time recording at work themselves. Whether this is done with timesheets or via modern digital apps hardly matters. Accordingly, employers should take their employees’ expectations into account when deciding which method to use. So far, most employees seem to be of the opinion that the effort involved in time recording is low. However, transparency does not seem to be very high either. For this reason, some employees would like to see better time recording methods at their workplace.
