What’s in the timesheet template
Six sheets: How to use, Week 1 to Week 4 and Summary. You type into the white cells; the grey cells are formulas. There are no macros.
The top of each week
On Week 1, type the employee’s name, the week starting date, their contracted hours a week and, if you want a pay figure, their hourly pay. Weeks 2, 3 and 4 copy all of it and start 7, 14 and 21 days later.
One row for each day
| Column | What it does |
|---|---|
| Day and Date | Worked out from the week starting date. |
| Start and Finish | Clock times such as 9:00 and 17:30. A finish earlier than the start, such as 22:00 to 06:00, counts as the next morning. |
| Break (mins) | The unpaid break, in whole minutes. |
| Hours worked | Finish minus start, less the break, in hours and hundredths. 7.50 is 7 hours 30 minutes. |
| Leave (hours) and Leave type | Hours of leave that day, and the type: annual leave, bank holiday, sick, TOIL or other. |
| Notes | Anything else, such as a shift swapped or a late finish agreed. |
Under the days
- Week total of hours worked and of leave hours.
- Contracted hours, and the difference between them and the hours worked plus leave.
- Pay for hours worked: hours worked × hourly pay, to the penny, when an hourly pay is typed.
- Lines for the employee’s signature and the manager’s approval, each with a date.
Warning colours
- An amber Break cell means more than 6 hours worked with a break under 20 minutes.
- An amber Start cell means less than 11 hours since the previous day’s finish. On Weeks 2 to 4, Monday is checked against the Sunday before.
Summary sheet
The four weeks side by side: week starting date, hours worked, leave hours, contracted hours, the difference and pay, with totals.
How to fill in a weekly timesheet
- Download the file and save one copy for each employee.
- Fill in the top of Week 1: name, the Monday (or first day) of the week, contracted hours and, if you like, hourly pay.
- Each day, type the start, finish and break. Use the actual times worked, not the rota.
- Add any leave in hours, with its type.
- Check the colours and the difference from contracted hours at the end of the week.
- Print the week and sign it. The manager checks it, signs and dates it.
- Pass the totals to payroll and keep the timesheet.
Worked example
Week starting Monday 2 November 2026, contracted 37.5 hours, £12.50 an hour:
| Day | Typed | Hours worked |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9:00 to 17:30, 30 minutes’ break | 8.00 |
| Tuesday | 22:00 to 06:00, 15 minutes’ break | 7.75 (Break turns amber: under 20 minutes) |
| Wednesday | 13:00 to 18:00, no break | 5.00 (Start turns amber: 7 hours after Tuesday’s 06:00 finish) |
| Thursday | 7.5 hours of annual leave | 0, with 7.50 leave hours |
| Sunday | 20:00 to 23:00 | 3.00 |
The week comes to 23.75 hours worked and 7.50 hours of leave: 6.25 hours under the contracted 37.5. Pay for hours worked is 23.75 × £12.50 = £296.88. If the next Monday starts at 07:00, Week 2’s Start turns amber, because Sunday finished at 23:00.
Timesheets and the law
We checked these points on GOV.UK on 26 October 2026:
- Employers must keep records that prove they pay at least the minimum wage, such as total pay and total hours worked, for at least 6 years. They can be on paper or on a computer (employers and the minimum wage).
- From 6 April 2026, records of annual leave and holiday pay must also be kept for 6 years (holiday pay). See our holiday record-keeping guide.
- Workers have the right to a 20-minute rest break when they work more than 6 hours a day, and to 11 hours’ rest between working days (rest breaks at work). The amber cells use these adult rules; young workers have stricter ones.
The pay figure is a check, not payroll. It does not add overtime rates, holiday pay, sick pay, tax or National Insurance. For staff on irregular hours, their holiday builds up from the hours on these timesheets: the zero-hours holiday calculator works it out.
When timesheets get too much
One timesheet per person per week adds up fast. In Rotaleave, staff clock in and out on the iPhone or Android app or on a shared kiosk tablet with a PIN, and the times land on a weekly timesheet next to the rota. Managers see punches that need a look, correct or accept them, approve the week and export it as CSV. It is free for teams of 10 or fewer. See how timesheets work.