In BitaBIZ, you can choose between two overall time tracking solutions: with or without an hour bank. The right solution depends on how working hours are used in your company.

In this article, you will get an overview of which solution best suits different types of employment and how to choose the right setup.

The choice between time tracking with or without an hour bank depends on the employee’s type of employment and how working hours are managed.

Hourly paid employees, on-call temps, and salaried employees without accumulation of additional hours will typically use time tracking without an hour bank, as working hours are either documented or settled directly for payroll.

Permanent employees with flex time or a collectively agreed working time account, where hours are accumulated as a balance, should instead use time tracking with an hour bank.

A staff group or employee may only be assigned to one time tracking method at a time – either with an hour bank or without an hour bank.

When an employee is assigned a policy on their master data card, they automatically receive the time tracking method selected in that policy.
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Employees should only have access to one time tracking method. If both are activated, it becomes unclear which method should be used. In practice, this may be experienced as “double registration” of working hours.

A policy must not provide access to time tracking both with and without an hour bank. On the policy, one of the two methods is selected as the primary time tracking method for the staff group.

The policy list shows which method is activated for a staff group’s policy.

In HR Statistics → Report Library, there are two reports available, depending on which time tracking solution the employee uses:

The reports show the employee’s actual working hours per week as well as the average working hours for a selected period.

For the reporting to be accurate, it is important that the employee’s working hours are registered in only one of the solutions. If working hours are split between both with and without an hour bank, the overview in the reports may be misleading.

As a general rule, an employee should only have access to one time tracking solution – either with or without an hour bank.

However, there are a few exceptions where it makes sense to grant access to both solutions.
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In some cases, there may be a need to register overtime that must be accrued for time off in lieu, even though the employee normally uses time tracking without an hour bank.

This may apply, for example, in cases of ordered overtime or special rules where the employee must accumulate hours in an hour bank for a limited period.

In this case, the employee can be given access to both solutions.

Select the method “Overtime without working time calculation” under time tracking with an hour bank, so that time tracking without an hour bank remains the primary solution.

If an employee uses time tracking with an hour bank, but also needs to register time on project job codes, it may be necessary to grant access to time tracking without an hour bank. This makes it possible to register project time via job codes.

The same time tracking method cannot be selected both with and without an hour bank. For example, if the employee uses Check in/out (flex time) with an hour bank, Check in/out cannot also be selected under without an hour bank. In that case, a different registration type compatible with job codes must be selected.

The hour bank can also be used with fixed accrual (monthly or annually), where the balance is used solely as an absence balance for employees who normally register time without an hour bank.

A typical example is accrual for the 6th week of vacation, where the employee must be able to take hours off – but not accrue overtime.

BitaBIZ supports the EU Working Time Directive through a range of notifications and rules that can be activated depending on your selected time tracking solution and method.

Read more about the available options here!