A Time Keeper's Job Description

by Grace Ferguson, Demand Media
The timekeeper ensures that a company's timekeeping system is correct and complete.


Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images

Federal and state laws say employers must pay employees for their time worked accurately and on time. In any business, a timekeeper is essential to this process. The timekeeper may perform other payroll-related duties besides timekeeping.

Time Compilation

An employer must establish a timekeeping system to track nonexempt, or hourly, employees’ time. The system may require that employees manually complete weekly time sheets, punch a standard punch clock with time cards, or use an automated system via swipe badges or finger or palm prints. Regardless of the type of system, the timekeeper compiles each employee’s time worked in the pay period so that it can be paid on the upcoming payroll. Timekeeping hours may apply mainly to hourly employees; however, if the company requires that salaried employees record their time worked, the timekeeper compiles this data, as well. She also performs record-keeping duties to comply with federal and state timekeeping laws.

Time Calculation

The timekeeper either calculates employees’ time sheets or time cards from scratch or verifies that the time recorded in the automated system is correct. He codes and posts the time according to its category, such as regular, overtime, vacation, sick, personal or bereavement hours. He applies federal and state calculation laws appropriately, including procedures for rounding and for paid and unpaid breaks and lunches.

Data Verification

The timekeeper ensures that employees or their managers or supervisors properly submit timekeeping data. For example, if a time card shows missing punches, she contacts the employee or her supervisor to verify the missing data. She applies company policy in making the change, such as requesting that the employee submit a properly completed time card or making the change herself and signing off on it. She should be aware of laws on what to do when employees fail to submit a time sheet. The state may require that the employer pay the employee what it reasonably thinks she is owed instead of withholding her pay.

Payroll Duties

Calculating paychecks might be part of the timekeeper’s duties. This includes computing regular and overtime wages, salaries, piecework pay, back pay, supplemental wages and mandatory and voluntary deductions. In this case, his role would be a payroll and timekeeping clerk instead of solely a timekeeper.


According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2011, payroll and timekeeping clerks earned a mean hourly wage of $18.31 and a mean annual wage of $38,080. The BLS says payroll and timekeeping operations continue to be an important aspect of businesses; however, the use of computer software may restrict the growth of this job.

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