No timesheets or hour tracking in new job, how usual is this?

[unlikelychump]

I've just started a new job where they dont do timesheets or track hours at all. This is very strange to me as I have come from an industry where we log every minute.

How usual is this, and do I just go with the flow? I have 3 kids so I will benefit from flexibility.and I know it exists - they are going to be fine with compressed hours I think, but I am also senior so I know I will need to put the hours in. I have a team of 20 too.

What would you do if you were me?

I never filled in a time sheet until flexitime. I came in at X hours, took a 30 minute lunch break and finished at X hours every day. Once my working pattern changed I completed a timesheet but it never went anywhere for years until a new manager asked for it every month.

It varies a lot by industry. If you work somewhere with billable hours to clients then timesheets are common, so lawyers, consultants, architects etc will often have timesheets. Most places don't have direct client billing like that though so in my experience jobs without timesheets are way more common than those with.

But that doesn't mean you won't be expected to do the actual work and to be present for the contracted hours. You just won't have to document every minute.

I’ve never completed a time sheet and only submit any hours I’ve worked if I’m claiming expenses for that day. I’m paid to work 37 hours and often work a lot more, there is travel involved too. It’s essentially an understanding that you do your work and meet deadlines but when it’s quieter no one questions if you log off early as they know you’ll have worked beyond your hours other weeks.

I would keep my own log of hours. Just in case someone down the line queries. If you are working non standard times, it helps.

I’ve never completed a time sheet but we do have an online overtime system where we submit our overtime to be authorised by our line manager, paid or TOIL (usually at our own preference). TOIL then gets added to your leave balances which you then take as authorised.

That said we couldn’t randomly just work over on Monday-Thursday because we fancied finishing early on Friday afternoon. It has to be in line with the organisational needs.

I only ever filled in timesheets when the place I work introduced Flexi time. Before that as a salaried employee I was just trusted to start and finish at the right time if I worked a little but over then I didn't get paid for it or time off in lieu. If say they wanted me to do a specific thing out of hours that would be paid at overtime.

Although be careful assuming this means flexibility. I now have flexibility as we fill in a timesheet and have Flexi time. Before you were expected in the office during working hours no matter how many "extra" hours you may have worked previously.

When I worked in a consultancy role I had to fill in a time sheet so the correct hours could be billed to the client. Although I wasn't paid overtime, high client hours meant a higher annual bonus. In my current job I don't have to fill in a time sheet and I don't get an annual bonus. People still work hard to get the job done, but are less likely to work long hours over and above their core hours (understandably as there's no financial reward).

I've never completed a timesheet, but I wasn't billable. There were core hours, and I had notional start and finish times. Didn't mean there was endless flexibility though, not sure why it would?

I am in my 50s and apart from my first job where I had to clock in and out on a machine, I have never had a timesheet.

I have had a few jobs with flexible working / toil hours and often had meetings / work in locations other than my office. I always kept a note in my old paper diary of my hours on the off chance I was asked but to the best of my memory no one ever did.

I think the base of flexible working is trust, I did my job, I was trusted to organise my own workload and calendar, I really appreciated the flexibilty and respect afforded and as a result I was always happy to be flexible in return (late nights to meet deadlines / weekends for special events). I like to think I have never given anyone reason to question my commitment and my work was all the evidence needed I guess.

I work 3 days a week but can be flexible with that as needed e.g. if there's an event at school I'll start/finish later and make the time up another day. If it's simple, I don't record it anywhere. If there's lots to juggle e.g. end of term, I keep a list of when I made up the hours. For my employer this works both ways. I am also flexible to switching my days to attend important meetings or cover training sessions. Tbh my manager is more likely to remind me to take back time off in lieu than question where I was at 3pm on Tuesday. It's done on trust, alongside a culture of most people working hard/slightly over working. There is the option to take advantage, but it would probably show up in your work, and bluntly, it's not worth the manager time to enforce it if the work is getting done.

Meanwhile, ive never filled in a timeshares.
DHs new job requires one, and he seems to spend most of Friday afternoon doing it. What a waste of time!

I did 15 years of timesheets before moving to a new company that didn’t require them. It was definitely a big adjustment and, arguably, it would have been better if we did timesheets as we worked on multiple funded projects but had no way of tracking if particular projects were going over budget. For me, that’s the purpose of timesheets (linked to billing obviously) and so if you’re not in that environment, it’s just an extra admin hassle. I think it’s quite clear when people aren’t actually working their full hours but also I hope that culture is moving away from requiring that everyone spend exactly 7.5 hours+ qt their desk to focus more on outputs. If you’re getting through all your work and are performing well, why shouldn’t you log off half an hour early on some days?

Agree. Don’t conflate the two things op. If you are senior in a lot of organisations they won’t be expecting a , oh I started at eight so I’ll finish at four mentality.

I’ve only logged hours when I was doing a job with hours billable to clients. What a miserable experience that was, trying to account for every minute of the day (we weren’t allowed to attribute anything to general admin). Other private sector jobs (don’t know about public sector) you generally just work, do your job, and that’s that. Some are flexible about the hours, some aren’t.

Not a waste of time if it's your time you are charging clients for. If your time is billable of course you have to account for it or you could just pick a figure out of thin air. He would be better doing it as he goes though rather than at the end of the week especially if this is a new job as we are always suspicious of people who don't complete their timesheet as they go.

But he has to justify every 15 minutes - when he typically spends most of a week with one site, then ties that up before a different visit and chunk of work.
It really is entering 140 lines of identical information, that can't be cut and pasted.

It's been more of a register were I've work, you know in case of a fire. Now I work from home I don't track hours.

Only not had timesheets in one role and it was a nightmare. Organisation was chaotic so as managers we were regularly working 50 hours a week but with no overtime or TOIL. Senior management made noises about wanting us to work fewer hours but didn’t actually do anything to change it. We ended up starting to keep our own just as evidence of how much things weren’t working.

Current place timesheets are easy - all done online and you digitally clock in and out.

I've never used timesheets and I'm in my 50s. That said, a company can track what you are doing by using passcards in and out of buildings and keystroke trackers. Some people at my work are electronically recording what they are doing and having it witnessed and timestamped for quality purposes so their work is possible to track that way. I would only think it was necessary when you have people working for multiple customers and are billing them at a very granular level.

Only ever had one job where I had a timesheet. Don’t in my current one.

Not usual but I would actually write down in a dairy or on my own timesheet the hours I am doing. That way you future proof yourself against any possible scrutiny if something happens or an issue comes up. Always protect yourself even if an organisation or company is relaxed.

I've never completed a timesheet. I agreed my hours and was either working/at my desk for those hours or had called in to say I'd been held up.

No timesheets does not automatically mean flexibility! As you have a team of 20 you had better establish what is the actual policy.

You need to fit in so if they don't track it, they don't track it. Go with the flow!

I would go with the status quo... give it 3 months and assess.

My last job did not have time sheets etc and we were measured on outputs and if we got our job done. Maybe this is hard for managers, I don't know cos I always got my job done.