What should a builder's timesheet record, and what are the working time rules?
A timesheet should show who worked, where, on what, and for how long, signed off by someone. It matters for pay, daywork and disputes, and for showing you meet the Working Time Regulations 1998: an average of no more than 48 hours a week unless the worker opts out, plus set rest breaks and 5.6 weeks of paid holiday. This guide covers Great Britain.
What to record
Keep it simple enough that people fill it in every day. For each person, each day, record:
- name, and whether they are an employee or a subcontractor
- date and job (site name or job number)
- start time, finish time and unpaid breaks, so you can work out the hours
- the task or area worked on, so labour can be costed against the job
- whether the time was daywork or a variation, with the instruction that covered it
- anything that stopped work, such as weather or no access, with the time lost
- a signature or initials from the worker and from whoever checked it
Record actual times, not just "8 hours". Actual times are what show whether breaks and rest periods were met, and they are far easier to defend if someone questions them later.
Why it matters
- Pay: employees are paid from the hours on the sheet, and you need the same figures for overtime and holiday.
- Costs: hours by job tell you what the job really cost in labour, which is what your next quote should be based on.
- Daywork: where a contract allows daywork, the sheet is your proof of the hours, so have it signed by the client or their representative at the time.
- Disputes: if a worker or subcontractor says they were underpaid, or a client queries a bill, dated and signed sheets settle it quicker than memory.
- Working time: you need to be able to show the limits were respected (see below).
Employees and subcontractors
The two groups are treated differently, and so are their timesheets.
Employees are paid through PAYE. Genuinely self-employed subcontractors invoice for their work and are paid under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS). GOV.UK says a person is probably self-employed if they are self-employed for tax and most of the following apply: they bid for work or give quotes, they are not under direct supervision, they invoice for completed work, they pay their own tax and National Insurance, and they get no holiday or sick pay.
The label in the contract is only one factor. GOV.UK tells CIS contractors to check whether a worker should be employed rather than subcontracted, and warns of a penalty if they should have been. A sub who works your hours, on your instruction, on a timesheet, with no say over how the work is done, looks more like an employee than a business. If you are unsure, take advice before you set them up.
For a genuine subcontractor, a record of days or hours on site is still useful for daywork and for checking their invoice, but it does not turn them into an employee.
The 48-hour week and opting out
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, a worker must not work more than 48 hours a week on average. The average is normally taken over 17 weeks, and overtime counts. Young workers (under 18) cannot work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.
A worker aged over 18 can choose to opt out. The agreement must be voluntary and in writing. They can opt out for a set period or indefinitely, and an employer cannot dismiss or treat them unfairly for refusing. The worker can cancel the opt-out at any time by giving at least 7 days' notice, although the agreement can ask for a longer notice period, up to 3 months. Your side of the duty is to keep a record of each opt-out.
Opting out does not remove the other protections below.
Rest, breaks and night work
- Rest break: a worker who works more than 6 hours a day is entitled to one uninterrupted 20-minute break. Whether it is paid depends on the contract.
- Daily rest: 11 hours between working days. If someone finishes at 8pm they should not start before 7am.
- Weekly rest: either 24 hours without work each week, or 48 hours without work each fortnight.
- Night work: a night worker regularly works at least 3 hours in the night period, which is 11pm to 6am unless a different 7-hour period including midnight to 5am is agreed in writing. Their normal hours must not average more than 8 in 24, and they cannot opt out of that limit. Employers must offer them a free health assessment before they start and regularly afterwards.
- Young workers aged 16 and 17 have tighter rules: for example, a 12-hour daily rest instead of 11, and no work between midnight and 4am.
Some jobs and situations are excluded or have different rules, such as those needing 24-hour staffing, so check GOV.UK if you think one applies. A tight programme with a late finish and an early start the next day is the usual way a building firm breaks the daily rest rule.
Holiday
Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. That is capped at 28 days, so a worker on a 6-day week still gets 28 days.
- 5 days a week: 5.6 x 5 = 28 days
- 4 days a week: 5.6 x 4 = 22.4 days
- 3 days a week: 5.6 x 3 = 16.8 days
Bank holidays do not have to be given as extra paid leave, but an employer can count them as part of the 5.6 weeks. Irregular-hours and part-year workers build up their leave according to the hours they have worked, and GOV.UK has the detail. Subcontractors who are genuinely self-employed are not entitled to paid holiday, which is another reason status matters.
Records you have to keep
The regulations require an employer to keep records that show the weekly limit, the night work limit and the rest requirements are being met for each worker. As originally made, regulation 9 says to keep them for 2 years from the date they were made. The opt-out agreements are records too. GOV.UK says only that employers must keep some records and points to Acas for the detail, so check the current requirement with Acas if you are setting up a system.
Timesheets that show actual start and finish times and breaks are the simplest way to hold that evidence. Pay records and CIS records have their own retention rules, which are separate from this one.
Worked example: a 17-week check
An employee who has not opted out works 10 weeks of 50 hours during a busy spell, then 7 weeks of 44 hours.
- 10 x 50 = 500 hours
- 7 x 44 = 308 hours
- total 808 hours over 17 weeks
- 808 / 17 = 47.5 hours a week on average
That is under 48, so the limit is met, but only just. One more 50-hour week in place of a 44-hour one would put the average over. Signed weekly timesheets let you run this sum at any time. This is a simplified illustration of the 17-week average: take advice for anything unusual, such as leave, sickness or a changing pattern during the period.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Maximum weekly working hours
- GOV.UK: Weekly maximum working hours and opting out
- GOV.UK: Rest breaks at work
- GOV.UK: Night working hours
- GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement
- GOV.UK: Self-employed or contractor status
- GOV.UK: What you must do as a CIS contractor
- legislation.gov.uk: Working Time Regulations 1998, Part II (as made)
- legislation.gov.uk: Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 9 (as made)