Introduction to official working hours with net hours

Standard hours where the total net hours of the workday are entered are used when employees do not have a fixed start and end time, but where the total working hours per day are known – for example 7.5 hours.

This method is typically used for employee groups with more flexible working hours and forms the basis for calculating flex time, time off in lieu, and absence.

If employees have fixed working hours with specific start and end times, it is recommended to use official working hours with start and end time instead.

Choice of standard hours method

BitaBIZ supports three options:

Start and end time per workday
Used when employees have fixed daily working hours.
Net hours per day (this article)
Used when working hours vary, but the total number of hours per day is known.
No standard hours
Typically used for hourly employees or salaried employees without an hour bank and without standard hour management, but with the possibility of accruing overtime.

Create official working hours with net hours

Set up official working hours for an employee group on a policy

Official working hours entered on a policy automatically apply to all employees assigned to that policy.

To set up working hours on a policy:

Go to Setup Admin → Modules → Edit policy → Workweek

Select the standard hours method:
“Enter net hours only per workday”
Enter the number of net hours for each workday
Click Save

Breaks

When setting up the workweek on the policy, you need to consider how breaks should be handled.

If the breaks are unpaid, they should be created on the policy so they are deducted from working time
If the breaks are paid (e.g. paid lunch), no break should be created, as it would otherwise be deducted from working time

Read more about custom unpaid breaks here.

Set up official working hours for an individual employee

If an employee has different working hours than the rest of the employee group, the standard hours can be configured individually.

To set up working hours for an individual employee, go to:

Setup Admin → Edit employee → Workweek

Select: “The daily working hours are created and managed here”
Enter the net hours per day
Click Save

Important

The employee’s master data always overrides the policy
Standard hours can vary between even and odd weeks
Changes apply going forward only

Maximum plus hours per day (flex time only)

If you use flex time, you can limit how many overtime/plus hours an employee can accrue in the hour bank per day.

This can be configured by going to:

Setup Admin → Modules → Edit policy → Workweek → Enter a value in the field “Max. plus hours”

If the employee registers more plus hours than allowed, the hour bank will only be updated with the maximum number of hours.

Changes to standard hours

It is important to understand how the system handles changes to working hours:

When standard hours are changed on a policy or on an employee’s master data card, the historical standard hours used for previously saved registrations are retained.
The change to standard hours will only apply to new future registrations.

In other words, when standard hours are changed, the history of previously registered working hours is preserved, and changes apply only going forward.

Registrations that use net hours

Time registration without hour bank

The method “Edit the day’s standard hours if there is a deviation” requires standard hours.

At 09:00, the system automatically creates the day’s net hours on working days where no absence has been registered, and the employee only edits the registration if there are deviations.

Time registration with hour bank

Flex time Flex time uses net hours to settle working time in the hour bank based on the day’s plus or minus hours.
Time off in lieu – full day A full time off in lieu day is converted to the day’s net hours. If the day’s net hours are set to 7.5 hours, these hours are deducted from the hour bank.
Time off in lieu – hours from/to Time off in lieu registered in hours is settled directly to the hour bank. There are no restrictions on the from and to times. The employee must therefore know their normal working day.

Absence

Other vacation – full day A other vacation day is converted to the day’s net hours. If the day’s net hours are set to 7.5 hours, these hours are deducted from the other vacation balance.
Other vacation – hours Other vacation hours are settled directly to the other vacation hour bank. There are no restrictions on the from/to times, so the employee must know when their working day starts and ends.
Sick hours If sick hours are enabled, the hours are converted into days in the employee’s statistics. Conversely, a full sick day, when standard hours are configured, can also be settled in hours.

Related guide

If employees have fixed start and end times, official working hours can be configured with start and end times per day.

FAQ

How do we know whether to use start and end time or net hours?

Use start and end time if employees have fixed working hours with specific times (e.g., 08:00–16:00).

Use net hours if employees do not have fixed start and end times, but work a fixed number of hours per day (e.g., 7.5 hours).

Create official working hours - with net hours per day