7 Biggest Mistakes in Time Tracking and Overtime Management

Time tracking and overtime management is one of the most critical parts of human resources operations. Although it appears as "routine work" in many companies, it is actually a strategic process that directly affects payroll accuracy, employee satisfaction, and employer legal risks. Especially in growing organizations, manual methods and uncontrolled practices over time both increase costs and lead to disputes that damage employee-employer relations.

In Turkey, overtime is quite sensitive in terms of labor law and Social Security applications. Even incorrectly calculating an employee's one hour of overtime can lead to both labor court proceedings and serious compensation burdens. Therefore, time tracking processes should be handled not just as "monitoring" but also with a "provable record" mindset.

Here are the 7 biggest mistakes companies most frequently make in time tracking and overtime management:

1. Continuing to Manage Time Tracking with Excel

Excel might seem like a short-term solution for small teams, but it's a major risk in the long run. Files circulating in different versions, user errors, manual entries, and incorrect formulas can easily corrupt time tracking data. Moreover, time tracking done through Excel may struggle to be accepted as a reliable record in audit processes. This situation weakens the company's hand in overtime disputes.

2. Not Standardizing the Overtime Approval Process

In many companies, overtime is reported "after it's done." This approach leads to uncontrolled cost increases. The correct method is planning overtime and linking it to manager approval. Additionally, in which departments and under what conditions overtime can be done should be clearly defined.

In companies without approval mechanisms, employees begin to see overtime as a "right" and the process becomes unmanageable.

3. Applying Overtime the Same Way for Everyone

Overtime application is not the same for every employee group. For example, different calculation models are needed for shift workers, white-collar workers, field personnel, or project-based workers. Additionally, for some employees, flexible time application can be preferred instead of overtime.

Squeezing all employees into a single time tracking template creates both a perception of injustice and causes payroll errors.

4. Not Getting Entry-Exit Data from Reliable Sources

At the foundation of time tracking is accurate entry-exit data. The accuracy of data coming from turnstiles, card access systems, biometric devices, or mobile applications is very important. However, in many companies, employees report their entries and exits with manual signature lists. This method is both open to manipulation and difficult to audit.

Especially for remote or hybrid working teams, when digital time recording systems are not used, time tracking loses its reliability.

5. Incorrectly Applying Night Work, Public Holiday, and Weekend Work Rules

Overtime is not just "exceeding normal working hours." Situations like night work, weekend work, and working during holidays and public holidays are evaluated with different coefficients and different rules.

Incorrectly making these calculations can cause the company to experience serious risks in both Social Security and labor court processes. One of the biggest problems is errors like "worked on a public holiday but only regular work hours were recorded."

6. Not Integrating Overtime with Payroll

Correctly transferring time tracking data to payroll is a critical stage. If the time tracking system is not integrated with the payroll system, manual data transfer is done every month. This leads to delays, incorrect data entry, and calculation errors.

As a result, employees may receive incorrect wages, which creates a loss of trust. Increased payroll disputes raise the HR team's workload and trigger internal dissatisfaction.

7. Not Doing Reporting and Analysis (Just "Calculating")

Many companies see time tracking as just a mandatory process for payroll. However, time tracking data is also a great opportunity in terms of operational efficiency. Which department is overtime concentrated in? Which manager constantly approves overtime? Which project is overtime cost coming from?

Companies that cannot answer these questions cannot manage overtime as a cost element and gradually lose budget control.

Conclusion: Time Tracking Management Is Not an HR Process, It's Risk Management

When time tracking and overtime processes are not properly structured, companies don't just experience financial losses; they also suffer greatly in terms of employee satisfaction, perception of internal justice, and legal security.

Therefore, it has become critical for companies to move away from Excel and manual approval processes to digitalized, rule-based systems with strong payroll integration. Especially in growing organizations, time tracking processes are no longer just operations but also a strategic control mechanism.

Digital Time Tracking Is Now a Necessity

As HRSP, the biggest problem we see in the field is that time tracking and overtime management is still handled as "manually tracked payroll input." However, in modern organizations, time tracking processes should be carried out on an end-to-end digital system along with shift management, leave processes, overtime approval, public holiday rules, and payroll integration.

The OrchestraHCM approach responds exactly to this need: it makes overtime processes transparent and traceable with rule-based time tracking calculations, MSS approval screens for managers, ESS requests for employees, and workflow infrastructure. Thus, companies not only reduce payroll errors but also control overtime costs, produce auditable records, and establish a fairer work order that increases employee satisfaction.