3 ways to track employees’ work hours from HR

4 of June, 2025

The tasks faced by the Human Resources team have changed in recent years. Despite this, accounting for work hours remains one of the most important aspects.

Do you want to know how to account for work hours? In this article we are sharing some of the reasons why it is important to keep track of working hours. Don’t miss it!

Why work hours are accounted for

When we talk about accounting for work hours we refer to a set of procedures, which allow a record of the employee’s schedule. Among the objectives of these types of tools are the following:

• Work time control, knowing the total time worked.
• Contributes to making the calculations and timely payments, according to the hours that have been worked, ensuring that workers see their effort rewarded.
• Helps to comply with the legal regulations, ensuring breaks, good accounting of overtime or rest periods.
• Accounting for work hours is essential for efficient management of the productive force, creating KPI’s and compliance statistics with schedules.
• Leads to a better control of labour costs, improving financial planning, by achieving easier and more efficient work schedules.
• Measures the working time, using it as an indicator of the performance of the workforce.
• Ensures safety and health, by avoiding work fatigue and guaranteeing the rest periods of the workforce.
• Contributes to equity and transparency in the treatment of all members of the workforce. This helps avoid favouritism by ensuring that all workers are treated fairly in terms of the time dedicated to work.
• Facilitates labour inspections.
• Speeds up necessary shift changes.
• Makes entering and exiting the offices easier.

How work hours are accounted for

Now that the importance of this control is known, all that remains is to understand how to account for work hours adequately. There are different methods for doing this

The following are 3 ways to account for work hours from the Human Resources Team:

Conventional systems

These are methods in which employees manually register their entry and exit hours. These systems involve a direct tracking of the different types of workday. Although they have been the most used formats for a long time, these can present certain operational problems for companies.

This is because supervisors and human resources staff review and verify the records to ensure they match with labour policies and applicable laws. It is a simple method, but it can be prone to errors if not carried out correctly.

The most common ones are:

• Attendance sheet: in which employees manually record their entry and exit hours. Something similar happens with Excel sheets.
• Time cards: employees use punched or digital cards to record their hours.
• Paper or electronic forms: the workforce fills out time forms specifying the hours worked.

Supervisors and human resources staff must review and verify the records to ensure they match with labour policies and applicable laws.

This method is simple, but can be prone to errors if not carried out correctly.

Automated registration systems

Implementing automated registration systems allows for better management of entry and exit hours of the workforce, reducing the possibility of errors and inconsistencies. With these, the data collected can be directly integrated into payroll and Human Resources systems, streamlining the process and helping to account for work hours.

• Clocks with electronic cards.
• Biometric systems: such as the use of fingerprints, facial recognition or other biometric methods for automatically recording hours.
• Mobile applications: that allow workers to record their hours from smartphones, frequently used in the case of teleworking staff.

Software for accounting work hours

Today there are personnel management software, like that of Sesame HR, which allow employees to enter their work hours, request time off and note overtime. This type of program often includes project tracking functions, report generation and regulatory compliance.

This type of software for accounting work hours, facilitates the supervision and analysis of work hours, allowing for more efficient labour force management. Among some of the formats are:

• Integrated platforms: These involve the use of a program that integrates time recording with other processes, such as payroll and human resources management.
• Project tracking: by linking the work hours to specific projects for more detailed tracking.
• Report generation: that summarize the hours worked by each employee and other related data.

No matter the chosen method, it is crucial to establish clear time recording policies and train both employees and supervisors on their application. These are some of the many ways that exist to account for work hours from HR.

Tips for accounting a worker’s hours

Accounting for work hours accurately is essential for effective time management and compliance with labor norms. Some tips for this are:

• Use a work hour control software that is reliable and efficient and automate the process.
• Respond to requests for schedule changes, absences, and permissions.
• Establish clear time recording policies and communicate them to the employees.
• Train the staff so they know how to use said software for accounting work hours.
• Conduct regular tracking and monitoring of work hours and time recording.
• Keep detailed records that include overtime.
• Include pauses and breaks in the count.
• Communicate openly, allowing information to flow between HR and the rest of the employees, to be aware of any potential issues.
• Conduct periodic audits to control the correct functioning of the software.

By following these tips you will be able to account for work hours easily. If you want to learn more, check out our blog. We are your go-to HR software! Request your free trial of Sesame HR today.

Cristina Martin

People and Talent Director | LinkedIn | | Web | +post

Professional with over 20 years of extensive experience in various areas of Human Resources (Recruitment, Training, Occupational Risk Prevention, and Personnel Management). Experience in the Management Department: Broad understanding of the company and HR.

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