Chronotek Blog | Smarter Employee Management

Rounding Time Sheets using the 7-Minute Rule

Written by Dennis Brady | October 16, 2023

Are you rounding your employees’ time sheets to make payroll easier, prevent early clock-ins, or even boost employee pay? It’s essential to accurately and legally round time clock punches to protect yourself and your business.

Do you want to ensure that your employees are always at the job site when clocking in?

Rounding Rules to Keep In Mind When Changing Timesheets

1 - Rounded Timesheets Cannot Benefit the Employer


Any time clock rounding adjustments made to the timesheet cannot be used by the employer to save money. For example, if an employer saw a timesheet with a start time of 8:03 and then rounded it to 8:15, the employer would save almost a quarter hour’s pay, even though the employee worked most of the quarter hour and should be compensated accordingly. Be careful with time card manipulation. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employers pay for all the time employees work. 

2 - Follow the 7-Minute Rule

According to the Department of Labor, “Employee time from 1 to 7 minutes may be rounded down, and thus not counted as hours worked, but employee time from 8 to 14 minutes must be rounded up and counted as a quarter hour of work time.”  If you want to double-check your timesheet rounding, the chart below breaks down how to round time sheets to the nearest 15-minute mark.

3 - You Cannot Round in Increments Greater Than 15 Minutes

While it’s common to round time sheets to the nearest quarter hour, employers can also round by the 1/10 of an hour (6 minutes) or by 5 minutes. Remember that employers cannot round in increments greater than 15 minutes.

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