Contracting and timesheets

[disarm]

Hi

I have been told by a contractor that on a timesheet you would include the time you left your house and include travelling time in the hours logged. So if you were to start at 9 and finish at 5, you would put down say for example 8.30 - 5.30 to include 30 mins each way of travelling time. Is this correct?

Also, would you include time for administration - filling out timesheets and expenses etc?

Cheers

D

[oversteer]

Wish I could be half hour from work

The timesheet is really there for the client to sign off a record that you were in their office for the specified hours. The agency can then use this record to bill the client and pay your company, not necessarily in that order.
If the agency has agreed your company can charge the client for your travelling time, go ahead and get them to sign off on it.
Otherwise, or if you're billing on a day rate anyway, it's not really going to matter.

I'd have thought most clients will refuse to pay for travel time if it is essentially "commuting" - your Ltd co will probably have to fund this itself.

[northernladuk]

Why don't you ask your client. It is them you are working for and it is them that sets the policies. Some might some might not.

[Wanderer]

I have been told by a contractor that on a timesheet you would include the time you left your house and include travelling time in the hours logged. So if you were to start at 9 and finish at 5, you would put down say for example 8.30 - 5.30 to include 30 mins each way of travelling time. Is this correct?

I would say no, unless you are a home based worker who comes into the client's site occasionally. Are you paid for a daily rate or hourly rate? If it's daily you do a "professional day" so just sign out for 7.5 hours (or whatever the client's standard day is) regardless of what time you were in and out of the office.

Also, would you include time for administration - filling out timesheets and expenses etc?

What's that, 10 minutes a week? No. just do it during the day. Don't go splitting hairs about a few minutes here or there on your timesheet.

[NotAllThere]

It's what some largeco consultancies might do, under certain circumstances. It would be highly unusual to find this practice acceptable to clients of small consultancies/contractors.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

I would have thought that there would either have been an accompanying letter with the timesheets or something printed on the timesheets to clarify the position - usually says 'Hours Worked' - extremely unlikely that your travelling and/or administration time would be included

[SueEllen]

Hi

I have been told by a contractor that on a timesheet you would include the time you left your house and include travelling time in the hours logged. So if you were to start at 9 and finish at 5, you would put down say for example 8.30 - 5.30 to include 30 mins each way of travelling time. Is this correct?

As oversteer and Wanderer said.

A bit of common sense is needed as some contractors travel for 2+ hours a day.

If in your contract one of the client's addresses is written as one of the specified places you can work from then you can't claim the time travelling to that place.

However if the client asks you to go to another site not written down in the contract with your limited, then you need to negotiate to include travel to that other site in your contracted hours.

Hence you always need to ensure you have one of the client's site addresses written in the contract.

Also, would you include time for administration - filling out timesheets and expenses etc?

No never include it in your normal hours.

The majority of companies and organisations with office-based workers include some time daily or weekly in projected working hours where they know no work would be done i.e. going to the toilet, getting a drinking, walking to a meeting. Part of this is to get around Health and Safety regulations and part of this is sense.

BTW working out your business expenses and doing your invoices should be done in your own hours.