Everything You Need to Know About Part-Time Time Tracking!

1. What different working time models are there?
2. 5 Methods of time recording in part-time
3. How is time recording in part-time done?
4. How should vacation days, holidays & sick days be recorded in part-time work?
5. Time recording in part-time: The most important things in a nutshell

Just under a third of Germans currently work part-time. However, it's not just the working hours that differ compared to a full-time job, but also the time recording is different. This article reveals which regulations are used for the time recording of part-time employees and what peculiarities and tools you should keep in mind.

What different working time models are there?

In this article, we refer to the time recording in part-time. However, to work out the peculiarities of this form of employment, we first look at the different working time models:

• Full-time: As a rule, the working hours for full-time employment are seven to eight hours a day, which is around 35 to 40 hours a week. In addition, work is usually done on five days a week.
• Part-time: Employees who work part-time do fewer weekly hours than in full-time. Either they work shorter hours each day or only on certain days of the week.
• Shift work: Shift work consists of rotating shift cycles. Within these, early, late and night shifts alternate in a given rhythm.
• Flextime: The flextime model is characterized by flexibility. So employees can decide for themselves when they want to do their work within a set period. The employer set a core working time between 9 and 16 o'clock. Outside this window, there is no obligation to be present.

5 Methods of time recording in part-time

Even though the Federal Ministry of Labor is demanding by law that time recording must be done electronically in the future, there are still some exceptions. These come into play, for example, in small businesses with a maximum of ten employees. The same applies to deviating works agreements based on collective agreements.

Let's take a closer look at the different time recording systems:

1. Punch and stamp clocks

Punch and stamp clocks are used for automatic time recording. The procedure is very simple: your employees receive individual stamp cards, which they insert into a terminal at the start and end of their working hours. There are various models of punch clocks – from complex models with a calculation function to simple hour recording via Excel.

2. Time recording on paper

In the future, this method of time recording may only be used in small companies with up to 10 participants or due to special works agreements. However, time recording on paper takes a lot of time and can also cause a paper chaos. In this type of time recording, data protection aspects also are affected.

3. Programs like Excel

Recording time in part-time is possible with spreadsheet programs like Excel. Especially self-employed people and small teams use this simple form of time recording. Excel offers several templates for hour sheets and calculating vacation entitlements is also easily possible.

4. Digital time recording tools

The easiest way to record the hours worked is using a special time recording software, such as MyTimeTracker. The market for time recording programs is now huge - you can choose from softwares for your laptop as well as apps that have automatic time recording or a digital punch clock. Often such tools offer helpful additional functions in addition to time recording, such as integrated vacation planning and invoice creation. In addition, analyses for project management and controlling are often added.

5. Mobile time recording in the cloud

Speaking of digital time recording – you can also easily record the working hours of your employees in the cloud. The data is then stored centrally in one app. If you decide for this model of time recording, make sure that your software allows synchronization with the desktop version. This is the only way to get the data for centralized evaluation.

How is time recording in part-time done?

Now let's come to how the working hours of part-time employees are calculated. Two calculation models are used: the value method and the time method.

With the value method part-time employees are treated like full-time employees. This means that the target working hours are spread over a 5-day week, even if the employee only works three days a week. This results in the daily target working hours being reduced according to the respective degree of employment. Part-time employees are therefore only credited with the reduced target hours.

Example of time recording using the value method: Sarah works a 50% schedule, which means she only works all day on Monday and Tuesday and only in the morning on Wednesday. With a 40-hour week, her target working time is therefore reckoned as 4 hours. This also applies to Monday and Tuesday, when Sarah actually works eight and not just four hours. The actual time recording is based on these fictitious target times.

In addition to the value method, the time model is also used for time recording. With the time method a company determines certain days together with the employee as fixed working days. On these, the working time must also take place within the agreed framework. The time recording is then based on these fixed working days.

How should vacation days, holidays & sick days be recorded in part-time work?

Holidays

The weekly target working time is spread over one week. Therefore, the part-time worker must also enter each working day of the week as a vacation day in the time recording system for a one-week vacation. According to the value method, part-time employees receive the same number of vacation days as full-time employees. However, there is a difference in the value of a vacation day - it matches the daily target working time. If your employee has a weekly working time of 40 hours and an 80% workload, a vacation day is worth 6.4 hours.

Holidays

Let's look at the time recording in part-time for holidays. The rule here is: If a public holiday falls on a working day of your part-time employees, they will be credited with the respective target working time. Due to the difference between the target working time of part-timers and full-time employees, a negative balance can occur.

On the other hand, a positive balance is created if a holiday falls on a working day when the part-time employee is not working because of his/her part-time balance. The positive balance thus corresponds to the daily target working hours of part-time employees. The number of holidays is the same for your full-time and part-time employees.

Sick days

The method mentioned above also applies to sick days - if part-time employees are sick on one of their working days, only their reduced target hours are credited. If the part-time worker is sick on one of the actually free days, they must report this. After all, they then get credited with the reduced target hours for these days.

Do you want to get to know more tools? Then you will find a time recording software guide on OMR Reviews in which you can find a comparison of the best solutions.

Time recording in part-time: The most important things in a nutshell

Time recording gives you information about how many hours your employees have worked. To record the working hours of your part-time employees, you can choose between the value method and the time method. With the value method, the target working hours of your part-time employees are spread over the five days, even if they only work two days a week. With the time model, on the other hand, certain days are chosen as fixed working days, on which the time recording is based.

In addition to the working days, you also have to record the vacation days, holidays and sick times. Here certain regulations may apply that differ from those for full-time employees. To simplify the time recording process for your HR department, you can use time recording tools. They offer you a wealth of options to monitor the performance of your employees and easily and digitally record working hours.