Care home staff work days, nights, weekends, and overtime — and tracking those hours accurately matters for both payroll and demonstrating safe staffing. TimeTally gives your carers a simple way to log shift hours from their phone, and gives managers a clear record of who worked when. Approved timesheets export straight to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV. From £2 per staff member per month.
TimeTally is a timesheet tool, not a care home management system — but accurate timesheet records are the foundation of demonstrating safe staffing to CQC and meeting your employment law obligations.
The Working Time Regulations 1998 limit average weekly working hours to 48 (calculated over a 17-week reference period) and require at least 11 consecutive hours of rest between shifts. Night workers face a separate limit of 8 hours per 24-hour period. These rules apply to every care home in the UK, whether residential, nursing, or supported living. Keeping accurate records of hours worked is your first line of defence if the HSE ever asks questions.
CQC inspectors review staffing records as part of their assessments under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. Regulation 18 (Staffing) requires providers to deploy sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff. Inspectors look for evidence that this is happening. Accurate, accessible timesheet records — showing who worked when and for how long — make it straightforward to demonstrate this during inspections, including unannounced ones.
For payroll, getting shift hours right is critical. Care home staff often work irregular patterns across days, nights, and weekends, with varying overtime. Missed overtime, incorrect break deductions, or misrecorded night shifts lead to underpayments and erode trust. With vacancy rates in adult social care running high, retaining staff partly depends on paying them correctly and on time.
Sleep-in shifts add another layer. Following the Supreme Court ruling in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake, sleep-in shifts only count as working time when the carer is awake and working. You can use TimeTally's project tracking or notes feature to distinguish between waking hours and sleep-in periods — the tool records whatever you enter, and it is up to you to categorise the time appropriately.
Carers are busy. TimeTally takes less than 60 seconds per day. Enter start time, end time, and breaks — that is it. Works on any phone or a shared tablet in the staff room.
TimeTally is a straightforward timesheet and holiday management tool. Here is what it does and how it helps care homes.
Staff enter their shift start and end times. This works for any shift pattern — days, nights, long days, waking nights, or irregular rotas. Overnight shifts that cross midnight are handled correctly. Total hours and overtime are calculated automatically.
Set an hourly rate and overtime rate for each carer. When timesheets are submitted, TimeTally calculates standard pay and overtime pay automatically. You can set daily or weekly overtime thresholds to match your care home's rules.
Track breaks separately. Under UK law, workers are entitled to a 20-minute uninterrupted break for shifts over 6 hours. Use our break time compliance calculator to check your obligations. TimeTally records breaks and deducts them from total hours so payroll figures are accurate.
Use TimeTally's project tracking to distinguish between shift types (day, night, sleep-in) or to assign hours to specific units or floors. If a carer works across two units in a shift, they can split their hours accordingly. Reports show total hours and costs per project.
Export approved timesheets to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV with one click. The export includes employee names, standard hours, overtime hours, pay amounts, and break deductions. No manual re-entry needed.
TimeTally works in any mobile browser. Staff do not need to download an app or install anything on personal devices. They can bookmark the page or use a shared tablet in the staff room. There is also a native iOS app for those who prefer it.
Managing holiday requests by email, WhatsApp, or paper forms is slow and error-prone — especially in a care home where you need to check shift coverage before approving. TimeTally's staff holiday tracker lets staff request time off from their phone. Managers see the team calendar and approve or decline with one tap. Remaining holiday entitlement is calculated automatically.
Staff select dates and submit. Managers get a notification and can see who else is off before approving.
See your whole team's availability at a glance. Check for clashes before approving requests — useful when you need to maintain adequate staffing levels across shifts.
Statutory holiday allowance (5.6 weeks) is calculated automatically, including pro-rata for part-time staff and mid-year starters. UK bank holidays are pre-loaded.
Create categories for annual leave, sick leave, compassionate leave, or any other type your care home uses. Each with its own colour and allowance.
The team calendar gives care home managers a clear view of the entire team's status — submitted timesheets, approved holidays, and absences — all in one place. Use it to spot clashes before approving leave and to plan ahead for busy periods.
TimeTally is a timesheet tool, not a compliance system — but accurate timesheet records are the foundation of meeting your regulatory obligations. Here is how the data TimeTally captures supports your compliance requirements.
TimeTally records all hours worked, including overtime and night shifts. This gives you the data you need to review the 48-hour weekly average (over a 17-week reference period), 11-hour rest between shifts, and the 8-hour night work limit. Use our working hours calculator to check averages. You can export this data at any time if HMRC or the HSE request records. TimeTally does not actively monitor or alert for WTD breaches — it provides the data, and compliance decisions remain with you.
CQC inspectors assess whether providers have sufficient staff under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. TimeTally provides a clear, exportable record of who worked when, for how long, and in which unit or shift type. This is far more reliable than paper timesheets or handwritten rotas stored in filing cabinets.
Under UK law, workers on shifts over 6 hours are entitled to a 20-minute uninterrupted break. TimeTally tracks breaks separately, so you have a record that breaks were taken. Check your obligations with our break time compliance calculator. This is particularly important in care homes where long shifts are common.
HMRC requires employers to keep records of hours worked for at least two years. TimeTally stores all timesheet data digitally with timestamps and approval records — a complete audit trail that you can export whenever needed.
Accurate hours tracking ensures your effective hourly rate does not fall below the National Minimum Wage (£12.21/hour for workers aged 21+ from April 2025). This is especially relevant where unpaid overtime or incorrect break deductions could push the rate below the legal minimum.
All UK workers get 5.6 weeks statutory holiday (28 days for full-time). TimeTally calculates entitlement automatically, including pro-rata for part-time staff and mid-year starters, and tracks remaining allowance in real time.
One price. Every feature. No surprises.
Yes. TimeTally works in any mobile browser — no app download or installation needed. Staff can bookmark the page on their phone or use a shared tablet in the staff room. There is also a native iOS app on the App Store for those who prefer it.
TimeTally handles overnight shifts correctly. If a carer starts at 8pm and finishes at 6am, the system calculates 10 hours without any issues. Start and end times can cross midnight. Total hours and overtime are calculated automatically.
TimeTally does not have a dedicated sleep-in tracking mode. However, you can use the project tracking feature to create separate categories for 'sleep-in' and 'waking night', or use notes on timesheet entries to record the distinction. The tool records the hours you enter — categorising them is up to you.
TimeTally records who worked when and for how long, which you can export as evidence for CQC inspections. This supports your obligations under Regulation 18 (Staffing). However, TimeTally is a timesheet tool, not a CQC compliance system — it does not assess staffing adequacy or generate compliance reports. It gives you accurate data that you can present to inspectors.
No. TimeTally records all hours worked, which gives you the raw data to check against the 48-hour weekly average, rest periods, and night work limits. But it does not actively monitor these limits or send alerts when staff approach them. You would need to review the data yourself or export it to check compliance.
Yes. Each staff member has their own hourly rate and overtime rate. When timesheets are submitted, TimeTally calculates standard pay and overtime pay based on these rates. You can update rates at any time from the employee settings.
Yes. TimeTally has project tracking where you can create units, floors, or shift types. Staff assign their hours to the relevant project when submitting their timesheet. Reports show total hours and costs per project.
Staff tap 'Book Time Off', select their dates, and submit. Their manager gets a notification and can see the team calendar to check for clashes before approving. Remaining holiday allowance is shown in real time. Statutory entitlement (5.6 weeks) is calculated automatically, including pro-rata for part-time carers.
TimeTally exports to Xero, QuickBooks, and CSV/Excel. The export includes employee names, standard hours, overtime hours, pay amounts, and break deductions. Most payroll systems can import CSV files if a direct integration is not available.
Yes. You can add any staff member to TimeTally with their own hourly rate. Bank staff and agency workers can log their hours the same way permanent carers do. You could use project tracking to distinguish between permanent, bank, and agency hours if needed.
Guides and tools for UK care home providers
Timesheet features for NHS trusts, clinics, and healthcare providers
Learn moreUK legal requirements for tracking staff hours
Read guideComplete guide to WTD compliance for UK employers
Read guideTimesheet software for cleaning teams working across multiple sites
Learn moreManage rotating shifts, handovers, and shift patterns effectively
Learn moreTemplate and guidance for managing sick leave in your care home
View resource
