Clock in and out
Start and stop working time with one tap – the time is recorded automatically.
Electronic timesheet – clock in and out on mobile
No more spreadsheets and manual totalling. Employees record their working time with one tap, hours are summed automatically with breaks and overtime, and you get the overview the law requires – ready for payroll and the Labour Inspection Authority.
Completely free for one user, forever. Affordable for businesses – no credit card, no lock-in.
What is a timesheet – and what must it contain?
A timesheet shows employees’ working time – hours, breaks and overtime. Under the Working Environment Act § 10-7, the employer is obliged to have an overview of how much each person works. The overview must be available to the Labour Inspection Authority, and the responsibility lies with the employer – even when the employee records the hours themselves.
Many still record hours in spreadsheets or on paper. That easily leads to errors, gaps and double work at payroll. An electronic timesheet records continuously, totals automatically and gives a complete audit trail – with no manual summing.
Record hours electronically → A timesheet should show
- Name and date
- Start and end times
- Breaks and overtime
- Written, updated and easy to understand
Record on: Mobile Tablet PC
Time tracking that runs by itself
Correct hours every time – without anyone having to remember to fill in a form.
Automatic totalling
Breaks, overtime and totals are calculated continuously – no manual counting.
Reports ready for payroll
Export to Excel or PDF per employee, department or the whole company.
This is what the Working Environment Act § 10-7 requires
Overtime limits § 10-6
As a main rule, overtime may not exceed 10 hours over seven days, 25 hours over four consecutive weeks and 200 hours over 52 weeks. Total working time must not exceed 13 hours in a 24-hour period. Timelista keeps the count for you and warns when the limits are approaching.
Lovdata § 10-7 · Labour Inspection Authority on time registration
- The employer must have an overview of how much each person works
- The overview must show agreed time, additional work and overtime
- Must be written, updated and easy to understand
- Available to the Labour Inspection Authority and the employees
- The responsibility lies with the employer, even when the employee records the hours
Excel or Timelista?
What most people use today – and what you get instead.
Excel and paper
- Manual totalling every month
- Easy to get breaks and overtime wrong
- Out of date the moment someone changes it
- No traceable history
- Stressful when an inspection comes
With Timelista
- Hours are totalled automatically
- Breaks and overtime split out by the rules
- Always up to date in real time
- Complete audit trail on every change
- Ready for inspection in one click
Get the hours right – without spreadsheets
Set up the company and invite your employees in minutes. Then the timesheet keeps itself.
From clock-in to finished payroll basis
Four steps, and the hours are ready.
1
Add employees
Register the company and employees once.
2
Clock in and out
One tap on mobile, tablet or PC at start and end.
3
Hours are totalled
Breaks and overtime are calculated automatically, continuously.
4
Export to payroll
Finished reports ready for payroll and inspection.
Working time, overtime and breaks – briefly explained
Correct time recording is about more than pay. It is documentation that the business follows the working-time rules – and it is the employer who is responsible. The Working Environment Act § 10-7 requires an overview of how much each person works, and the Labour Inspection Authority can ask to see it at any time. If the overview is missing, it can lead to sanctions against the business.
Many businesses record hours incorrectly without knowing it – often because breaks, overtime and additional work are mixed together, or because recording happens afterwards and becomes inaccurate. The Labour Inspection Authority is clear that the overview must be written, updated and easy to understand, and that it should preferably be kept continuously.
How much overtime is allowed?
Under § 10-6, overtime may as a main rule not exceed 10 hours over seven days, 25 hours over four consecutive weeks and 200 hours over 52 weeks. Total working time must not exceed 13 hours in 24 hours or 48 hours over seven days. Overtime beyond the ordinary limits can only be required of those who have agreed to it. A timesheet that counts automatically makes it easy to stay within the limits.
Breaks and rest
An employee is entitled to at least one break if the working day exceeds five and a half hours, and the breaks together must be at least half an hour if the day is at least eight hours (§ 10-9). In addition there are requirements for daily and weekly rest (§ 10-8) – as a rule at least 11 hours of continuous rest per day. When breaks are separated out automatically, the timesheet is correct and rest periods are easy to document.
Who is responsible?
Even though the employee records the hours, the legal responsibility lies with the employer for the overview being correct and updated. In practice this means the business should have a system that makes correct recording easy – not leave everything to memory and spreadsheets. Then the timesheet is always ready, whether it is payroll or an inspection.
Timesheet, shift plan and personalliste
Three tools that each solve their own task – best when they play together.
Timesheet
Shows the hours actually worked, with breaks and overtime.
Working Environment Act § 10-7Shift plan
Shows planned working time ahead, and who is scheduled when.
Planning Who is at workPersonalliste
Shows who is actually present now – required in certain industries.
Bookkeeping RegulationTimelista combines all three in one system – so the numbers always match.
Correct hours, less work
Clock in from your phoneMobile, tablet and PC – no app to download.
Breaks and overtimeSeparated out and totalled automatically by the rules.
Ready for payrollExport to Excel and PDF, ready for payroll.
Ready for inspectionThe overview is always available to the Labour Inspection Authority.
Complete historyEvery change is logged – a complete audit trail.
Connects to the shift planCompare planned against actual working time.
Frequently asked questions about timesheets
Is keeping a timesheet required by law?
The employer is obliged to keep an overview of how much each employee works, cf. the Working Environment Act § 10-7. The overview must show agreed working time, additional work and overtime, and must be available to the Labour Inspection Authority. An electronic timesheet makes this happen automatically.
What must the timesheet contain?
For each employee the record should show name, date, daily working time with start and end, and any overtime and breaks. The Labour Inspection Authority specifies that the overview must be written, updated, clear and easy to understand.
Who is responsible for time registration?
It is the employer who holds the legal responsibility for the overview being correct and updated – even when the employee records the hours themselves. A missing overview can lead to sanctions against the business. That is why a system that records continuously pays off.
How much overtime is allowed?
The main rule in § 10-6 is that overtime may not exceed 10 hours over seven days, 25 hours over four consecutive weeks and 200 hours over 52 weeks. Total working time must not exceed 13 hours in 24 hours or 48 hours over seven days.
What break rules apply?
Under § 10-9 an employee is entitled to at least one break if the daily working time exceeds five and a half hours. If the working day is at least eight hours, the breaks together must be at least half an hour. Timelista separates breaks from working time automatically.
How much rest are employees entitled to?
Under § 10-8 employees must have time off, and shorter rest than 8 hours per day or 28 hours per week cannot be agreed. The main rule is at least 11 hours of continuous rest within 24 hours. A good timesheet makes it easy to see whether rest periods are respected.
Can the Labour Inspection Authority demand the timesheets?
Yes. The overview must be available to the Labour Inspection Authority and to employee representatives, and can be required at any time. With Timelista you bring up or export the timesheets immediately, with a full history.
How does the timesheet work in Timelista?
Employees clock in and out on mobile, tablet or PC, and the hours are summed automatically with breaks and overtime. You get finished reports ready for payroll, and everything connects with the shift plan and personalliste in one system.
Want to go deeper? Read more: timesheets in court – four rulings →
From the founder
As an authorised Norwegian accountant, I see every day how much Norwegian companies struggle to keep their personalliste in order. We built Timelista precisely to make that simple – and at the same time give you a complete tool for timesheets and shift planning, all in one place. Simple enough to use on mobile, tablet and PC, and 100% adapted to Norwegian regulations and the everyday reality of Norwegian businesses.
Aleksander Authorised Norwegian accountant & co-founder of Timelista Ready for an easier timesheet?
Correct hours, automatic totalling and full overview – ready for payroll and inspection.
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