Employee Timesheet Template

An employee timesheet template records when each employee started, took a meal break and finished each day, so you can pay them correctly. This free weekly timesheet comes as an Excel workbook that adds up the hours for you, and as a printable PDF. The Excel version works out each day’s hours, the weekly total, regular hours up to 40, overtime over 40 and an optional gross pay estimate.

What you get

An Excel workbook and a three-page PDF, sized for US Letter:

• Timesheet sheet (Excel): the blank weekly timesheet. Lavender cells are for typing; the bold white cells are formulas.
• Example sheet (Excel): the same sheet filled in for a fictional plumbing company.
• How to use sheet (Excel): short notes on records, overtime and paying for all time worked, with links to the sources.
• PDF page 1: a printable weekly time sheet with a pay summary and sign-off lines.
• PDF pages 2 and 3: the filled-in example and the notes.

What a good timesheet includes

• Who and which week. The employee, job title, supervisor, and the date the workweek starts.
• Actual times, every day. Time in, meal out, meal in and time out, to the minute. Not “8 hours”, and not the scheduled times.
• Daily and weekly hours. The federal recordkeeping rules ask for hours worked each workday and the total each workweek.
• Regular and overtime hours. Hours up to 40 and hours over 40 in the workweek, so overtime never gets missed.
• Notes. Why a day ran long, or a call-in on a day off.
• Sign-off. The employee confirms the hours, and the supervisor approves them for payroll.

How to fill in a weekly timesheet

1. Choose a fixed workweek, such as Monday 12:00 a.m. to Sunday 11:59 p.m., and use it every week.
2. Type or write the first day of the week. The Excel version fills in each day and date.
3. Record the actual time in and time out each day. If the employee took an unpaid meal break, record when it started and ended.
4. Leave rest breaks alone. Short breaks are paid time, so they don’t come off.
5. Check the weekly total. Anything over 40 hours is overtime under federal law.
6. Add a note for anything unusual, then have the employee and supervisor sign.
7. Run pay through payroll, and file the timesheet with the payroll records.

Completed example

The example is a week for a service technician at a fictional plumbing company. He works five weekday shifts with a 30-minute unpaid lunch, including a long Wednesday for an emergency repair, then gets called in for three hours on Saturday for a burst pipe. His total is 45.25 hours: 40 regular hours at $32.00 and 5.25 overtime hours at $48.00, time and a half. The gross pay estimate is $1,532.00. The sheet also shows 2.25 hours over 8 in a day, which would matter in a state with daily overtime. He signs on Sunday, and his manager approves it on Monday.

Weekly time sheets in Excel or on paper

A time sheet template, a weekly timesheet template and an employee time sheet are the same thing: a record of the hours someone worked. Use the Excel file if you can. It does the math, so nobody adds up hours by hand, and you can save one file per employee per week. Print the PDF for crews who work away from a computer, and type the times into Excel at the end of the week.

Federal law lets you use any timekeeping method, from a time clock to a sheet the employee fills in, as long as the records are complete and accurate (DOL Fact Sheet #21).

Overtime: weekly and daily

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, nonexempt employees get at least time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek (DOL Fact Sheet #23). Each workweek stands alone; a 30-hour week and a 50-hour week still mean 10 hours of overtime (29 CFR 778.104). The overtime rate is based on the “regular rate”, which includes most pay, not just the hourly wage (29 CFR 778.108), so the pay figure on the timesheet is only an estimate when there are commissions or bonuses.

Some states add daily overtime. California, for example, requires overtime for work over 8 hours in a workday, over 40 in a workweek and on the seventh day in a row, with double time in some cases (Labor Code 510). The “Over 8 that day” column helps you spot those hours, but the pay estimate follows the federal weekly rule only.

What to keep, and for how long

For nonexempt employees, federal rules list what your payroll records must show, including the day and time the workweek begins, hours worked each workday and workweek, the regular rate and the overtime pay (29 CFR 516.2). Keep payroll records for at least three years (29 CFR 516.5), and time cards and other records you work pay out from for at least two years (29 CFR 516.6).

Paying for all time worked

Work you didn’t ask for but allowed still counts, such as an employee who stays late to finish a job (29 CFR 785.11). A rule against it isn’t enough; you have to stop the work or pay for it (29 CFR 785.13). Short rest breaks are paid (29 CFR 785.18), and a meal period is unpaid only if the employee is completely relieved of duty (29 CFR 785.19). Many states also require meal breaks; the DOL keeps a list of state meal period rules. Rounding is accepted only if it doesn’t underpay people over time (29 CFR 785.48).

When to get advice

Get advice if someone’s pay mixes hourly wages with commissions or bonuses, if you aren’t sure an employee is exempt from overtime, or if you find hours that were worked but never paid. Fixing it early costs less than fixing it later.

Not sure what your state requires for overtime or breaks? hrsupport.io gives HR answers for your state, with the law behind every answer.