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Timecards for Hourly Staff Section 4.31 • Dept: Human Resources • Revised: October 29th, 2007

According to federal and state law, a record showing the time worked must be kept on all non-exempt employees.  In this regard, each hourly employee is required to fill in a timecard each day.  It is to show the exact hours at work, total number of hours worked each day, and a summary of total hours worked per pay period.  At the close of each payroll period, the employee must submit a completed and signed timecard to his/her supervisor for approval and further processing.

Complete instructions for recording time worked and paid absences are found on the reverse side of the current timecards and are also listed here for your convenience:

Timecard Preparation Instructions

General Instructions to Employees

  1. Time is to be recorded in quarter-hour increments.  This means that time worked and paid absences should be rounded to the nearest quarter-hour.
  2. Your signature on the timecard is your oath that all hours are recorded accurately.  It is illegal to either over-report or under-report hours.  The law does not allow non-exempt employees to donate their time to the university, except in roles that are completely unrelated to their department and job.
  3. The following information must be provided by law:
    • Employee Identification Number
    • Employee’s full legal name
    • Pay period end date
    • Location of work/department number

General Instructions to Supervisors

  1. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to insure that timecards are accurate and turned in on time.
  2. Corrections to time worked must be made by the employee, with the change completed per instructions on the front of timecard.  The supervisor may correct calculation errors, but the employee should be advised.
  3. Make sure the department account number is correct.
  4. As with the employee, your signature is your oath that the hours are accurately recorded.

How to Record Time Worked & Paid Absences

(Note: the definition of an alternate work schedule is a regularly scheduled workweek, of more than eight and no more than ten hours per day, in which overtime pay is not required per state law.  Please consult Human Resources for more information.)

  1. Biola’s workweek begins at 12:01 a.m. on Monday morning and ends at 12:00 midnight the following Sunday.
  2. Only time actually worked is to be counted in determining if the 8-hour, 12-hour, or 40-hour threshold defined below has been reached.  The one exception to this is that, per Biola policy, holiday pay is considered time worked for the purpose of determining if the 40-hour per week threshold has been reached.
  3. Regular Hours are the first eight hours worked in a workday.  The only exceptions to this rule occur when the employee has already worked over 40 regular hours in a workweek or if the employee works on Sunday, after already working each day of the previous Monday through Saturday.  Employees on approved alternate work schedules will put their normal scheduled hours as regular, per their alternate work schedule agreement.
  4. Overtime Hours are hours worked beyond 8 and up to 12 in any workday; the first 8 hours on Sunday, if the employee has worked each day Monday through Saturday; or over 40 regular hours worked in any workweek (except where double time applies).  Employees on alternate work schedules will put daily hours over the normal schedule as overtime, up to 12 per day.
  5. Double Time Hours are hours worked beyond 12 in any workday and hours worked after 8 on Sunday, if the employee has worked each day Monday through Saturday.  Employees on alternate work schedules will put all hours over 12 on regular workdays and over eight on non-regular workdays as double time.
  6. Holiday Hours are the formal Biola holidays allotted to each employee.  For each holiday, 8 hours (or one-fifth of your normal work week, if you work less than 40 hours) should be recorded here, if the employee is eligible for holiday pay, even if the employee is required to work on that day.  If you work on the holiday (and you are not granted a “substitute holiday”), the first 12 hours worked are recorded in the overtime column, and hours over 12 are recorded in the double time column.  (See section 5.11, Holidays.)
  7. Bonus Hours are the extra bonus days granted at the discretion of the president.  For each bonus day, 8 hours (or one-fifth of your normal work week, if you work less than 40 hours) should be recorded here, if the employee is eligible for holidays/bonus days, even if the employee is required to work on that day.  If you work on the bonus day (and are not granted a “substitute bonus day”), the first 8 hours of work are recorded as regular hours, the next 4 as overtime, and anything over 12 as double time.  (See section 5.11, Holidays).
  8. Jury Duty should be recorded in the regular hours column, with a note in the explanation column that you were on jury duty.  Jury duty hours cannot exceed the normal number of hours the employee is scheduled.  Please attach the court issued certification of service to your timecard.  (See section 2.6, Leaves of Absence.)
  9. VacationHours should not exceed the number that the employee has already accrued.  (See section 5.1, Vacations.)
  10. Sick Leave is reported in the sick leave column, with an explanatory note if the sick leave is used to care for an ill family member.  A maximum of six days per year are allowed for the care of family members.  Sick leave hours should not exceed the number that the employee has already accrued.  (See section 5.14, Sick Leave.)
  11. Personal Business Leave must not exceed the number of hours the employee has accrued and must be for reasons consistent with the policy outlined in section 5.13, Personal Business Leave.
  12. For Short Workdays (e.g., Short Fridays), record the hours actually worked in the regular hours column, and the excused hours in the bonus hour column, with the note “Short Workday” in the explanation column.  (See section 5.12, Short Workdays.)
  13. Bereavement hours should be listed as regular hours, with an explanatory note stating it was for bereavement.  (See section 5.17, Bereavement Leave.)