Guide
How Time Cards Work
A time card is a record of when you started and stopped work each day in a pay period. Payroll uses it to decide how many hours to pay you for, including overtime. It can be a paper sheet, a spreadsheet, a punch-clock card, or entries in a time-tracking app — the principle is the same.
What a time card records
- The date and day of the week.
- Clock in and clock out times — one pair per shift, or more if you leave and return.
- Unpaid breaks, usually the meal break, in minutes.
- Sometimes a job, project, or department code so hours can be allocated to the right budget.
- A total per day and per period, and often a space for your signature and a supervisor's approval.
Paper, punch clock, or app
| Type | How time is captured | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Paper / spreadsheet | You write the times | Estimating from memory; math errors in the totals |
| Mechanical punch clock | Stamps a card | Rounding of the stamped time |
| App or web portal | Button press, sometimes GPS-tagged | Auto-deducted meal breaks you did not take |
| Biometric (fingerprint / face) | Scan on a shared terminal | Queue time before your shift; scanner misreads |
Filling one out
- Record your actual start and finish times to the minute, as they happen — not from memory at the end of the week.
- Note the length of any unpaid break. If you worked through it, record that you did and do not deduct it.
- At the end of each day, work out the hours:
(clock out − clock in) − unpaid break. - At the end of the period, add the daily totals and convert to decimal hours for payroll.
- Sign it if a signature is required, submit it by the deadline, and keep your own copy.
The Time Card Calculator does steps 3–4 for a whole week and applies the overtime split. For a stack of raw in/out punches, the Time Clock Calculator totals them into decimal hours.
Pay periods and the workweek
A time card covers one pay period — commonly weekly (52 a year), biweekly (26), or semimonthly (24, on set dates). Overtime is calculated on each workweek, a fixed seven-day span the employer defines, even when the pay period is longer or splits a week. See what is a pay period and biweekly vs semimonthly pay.
How employers round punch times
Rounding each punch to the nearest 5, 6 (a tenth of an hour), or 15 minutes is common. In the US the FLSA allows it only if, over time, it does not systematically underpay employees, and it must be applied the same way whether it helps or hurts the worker. The details and the "7-minute rule" are in time clock rounding rules.
Corrections and missed punches
If you forget to clock in or out, tell your supervisor the same day and submit a written correction with the actual times. Do not leave it blank or guess later. Employers can edit time records, but they must reflect the hours you actually worked; an edit that removes real worked time is a violation.
Record-keeping requirements
US employers must keep accurate records of hours worked for non-exempt employees. Basic payroll records are kept for at least three years, and the records used to compute pay (time cards, schedules, wage-rate tables) for at least two. Your own copy of each time card is your evidence if there is ever a dispute about hours or pay.
Do salaried employees fill out time cards?
Exempt salaried employees are not legally required to track hours for pay, but many still submit time records for project costing, leave tracking, or client billing. Salaried non-exempt employees should track hours, because they are still owed overtime — see exempt vs non-exempt employees.
Common mistakes that cost hours
- Logging scheduled hours instead of actual hours worked.
- Forgetting that an overnight shift crosses midnight.
- Letting the system auto-deduct a lunch that was not actually taken.
- Writing 7 hours 30 minutes as "7.30" instead of 7.50.
- Not recording short shifts, call-backs, or required tasks done before or after clocking.
- Missing the submission deadline and being paid an estimate instead.
Frequently asked questions
What if my employer changed my time card?
Ask for the reason in writing and compare it against your own record. Legitimate corrections happen; removing worked time does not. Persistent discrepancies can be reported to the Department of Labor or your state labour agency.
Can I be disciplined for a time-card error?
For an honest mistake, usually not. Deliberately falsifying a time card — yours or a coworker's ("buddy punching") — is grounds for termination.