What should a trade crew timesheet record?

What the Fair Work page says about hours records

For employees in the national Fair Work system, fair Work says employers must keep time and wages records for 7 years. The records must be legible, in English and readily accessible to a Fair Work Inspector. They cannot be false or misleading, and they cannot be changed unless the change corrects an error.

For hours, the page lists the overtime hours worked in a day, when the overtime started and finished, and the hours worked by casual or irregular part-time employees who are paid by time worked. It also says employers should keep records of hours worked for all employees, and are required to in some circumstances. This guide does not say every award requires start and finish times for every employee, so check your award or agreement.

Sources[1]

Payroll record or job costing

The same entry can serve both purposes, but keep them apart. This split is our recommendation, not a legal form.

Sources[1]

Crew timesheet you can copy

Use one entry per employee, per job, per day. Replace every square bracket. This is our own layout, not a Fair Work form.

CREW TIMESHEET
Week starting: [DD/MM/YYYY]   Supervisor: [name]

Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]
Employee: [full name]   Role or classification: [as per award or contract]
Job reference and site: [job no.] [address]
Start time: [hh:mm]   Finish time: [hh:mm]
Unpaid break: [minutes]
Ordinary hours: [hours]
Overtime hours: [hours]   Overtime start: [hh:mm]   Overtime finish: [hh:mm]
Other paid time, if any: [hours and reason]
Notes: [callback, delay, variation reference]

Employee initials: [ ]   Supervisor review: [name, date]
Correction, if any: [original entry, corrected entry, reason, who, date]

Sources[1]

Review before payroll

Check each sheet against the roster and job schedule before it goes to payroll. Because the Fair Work page allows changes only to correct an error, keep the original entry and add a dated correction rather than overwriting it. Keep the timesheets that support your hours records for 7 years.

Sources[1]

Common questions

How do I create my own timesheet?

Start with the fields in the template above: date, employee, job, start and finish, unpaid break, ordinary and overtime hours and a review line. Fair Work also links its own timesheet template from its record-keeping page. Check your award or agreement for any extra requirements.[1]