Keeping your own timesheet in New Zealand

Why keep your own record

A payslip shows totals. Your own record shows the days behind them: the shift that ran forty minutes over, the break you worked through, the public holiday, the week you were rostered for 20 hours and worked 26. Without it, a pay problem comes down to what you remember against what the payroll system says.

It helps most if:

• Your hours change from week to week, as they do in most casual and part-time work.
• You are paid by the hour, so every minute is money.
• You are salaried but often stay late, and want to know what your time is really worth.
• You work two jobs, or for more than one site or client.
• Something feels off and you may need to raise it.

It is also yours. The roster, the clock-in system and the payroll app belong to your employer, and you lose access to them on your last day.

What your employer must record

Section 130 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 says every employer must keep a wages and time record for each employee. Among other things it must show:

• your name, and the kind of work you usually do;
• whether you are on an individual or a collective agreement;
• the number of hours you worked each day in a pay period, and the pay for those hours;
• the wages paid each pay period, and how they were worked out.

It can be on paper or electronic, as long as it can easily be turned into written form. If your hours and pay are agreed and you work exactly those hours, the law lets the agreement or the roster stand in for the daily hours. Hours beyond that still have to be recorded where they are needed to show you received your minimum entitlements.

Section 81 of the Holidays Act 2003 adds a holiday and leave record: your start date, the hours you worked each day in a pay period and the pay for them, your annual holiday and sick leave entitlements, the dates of and pay for any annual holiday, sick, bereavement or family violence leave you take, and the dates, hours and pay for any public holiday you work. Each entry must be kept for at least six years.

Employment New Zealand sums it up: wages and time records and holiday and leave records must be kept for six years, even after you leave, and an employer who fails to keep them can face penalties.

What to write down yourself

Seven things cover almost everything. Write them on the day, while they are still exact.

• Write times, not totals. "7.5 hours" cannot be checked; "8.02am to 4.47pm with a 30 minute break" can.
• Never quietly rewrite an old entry. If you got something wrong, add a correction with the date you made it.
• Keep the evidence beside it: rosters, the message asking you to cover a shift, your payslips.
• Check each payslip against your week as it arrives. A mistake is easiest to fix in the pay period after it happens.
• Keep it somewhere that is yours, and do not copy confidential or customer information out of work systems to do it.

Why a record made at the time matters

Your own notes have no special legal status. What makes them useful is when they were made and how specific they are: a start time written down on the day is far easier to rely on than a total pieced together months later.

The law also puts the weight on your employer's record. If you bring a claim for unpaid wages to the Employment Relations Authority, and your employer failed to keep or produce the wages and time record in a way that made it harder for you to bring an accurate claim, the Authority may accept your claims about the wages you were paid and the hours, days and time you worked as proved, unless your employer proves them wrong (section 132). The Holidays Act has a matching rule for holiday and leave pay (section 83).

Either way, the claim is built from what you can show. A record made on the day is the strongest thing you can bring.

How to ask for your employer's records

You can ask at any time. Under section 130(2), your employer must give you access to, a copy of or an extract from your wages and time record, covering up to the last six years, immediately. Under section 82 of the Holidays Act you, your representative, your union or a Labour Inspector can ask for the holiday and leave record, and your employer must let you see it, or give you a copy or a certified extract, as soon as practicable.

1. Ask in writing. An email is fine. Say which records you want and for which dates.
2. Name the sections, so nobody has to look up what you are entitled to.
3. Keep a dated copy of your request and of anything you get back.
4. Compare them day by day with your own record, and list each difference with its date.
5. Raise the differences calmly and in writing, and give your employer a chance to fix them.

If the records do not arrive, or you cannot sort out a difference, Employment New Zealand can explain your options on 0800 20 90 20, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5.30pm. If you are a union member, talk to your union. Employment rights in New Zealand covers the wider picture.