Healthcare staff work irregular shifts, nights, weekends, and overtime — and tracking those hours accurately matters for both payroll and compliance. TimeTally gives your team a simple way to log shift hours from their phone, and gives you a clear record of who worked when. Approved timesheets export straight to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV. From £2 per staff member per month.
UK healthcare has some of the most complex time tracking requirements of any sector. Shift patterns change weekly, staff cover multiple wards or sites, overtime is common, and regulators expect clear records.
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 NHS trusts, private clinics, GP surgeries, and domiciliary care agencies alike.
Beyond the Working Time Directive, CQC inspectors review staffing records as part of their assessments under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. They look for evidence that providers have sufficient, suitably qualified staff to deliver safe care. Accurate, accessible timesheet records make it straightforward to demonstrate this during inspections.
For payroll, getting shift hours right is critical. Missed overtime, incorrect break deductions, or misrecorded night shifts lead to underpayments and erode trust with staff. Use our overtime pay calculator to verify rates. With workforce shortages across UK healthcare, retaining staff partly depends on paying them correctly and on time.
TimeTally works for any healthcare provider that needs to track staff hours and manage holiday requests. You may also want to explore our shift rota template for planning.
Private hospitals, diagnostic centres, dental and physio practices
Residential care, nursing homes, supported living. See our care home page
Home care agencies, community nursing, visiting carers
General practices, walk-in centres, out-of-hours services
Healthcare staff are busy. TimeTally is designed to take 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 healthcare providers.
Staff enter their shift start and end times. This works for any shift pattern — days, nights, long days, split shifts, 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 staff member. When timesheets are submitted, TimeTally calculates standard pay and overtime pay automatically. You can set daily or weekly overtime thresholds to match your organisation's rules.
Track lunch breaks and additional rest 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. TimeTally records breaks and deducts them from total hours so payroll figures are accurate.
Use TimeTally's project tracking to assign hours to specific wards, departments, or sites. If a nurse works across two wards in a shift, they can split their hours accordingly. Reports show total hours and costs per department.
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. 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 when you need to check shift coverage before approving. TimeTally 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.
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, study leave, compassionate leave, or any other type your organisation uses. Each with its own colour and allowance.
The team calendar gives managers a clear view of the entire team's status — submitted timesheets, approved holidays, and absences — all in one place. Plan ahead, spot staffing gaps, and make informed decisions about approving leave.
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 monitor the 48-hour weekly average (over a 17-week reference period), 11-hour rest between shifts, and the 8-hour night work limit. You can export this data at any time if HMRC or the HSE request records.
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 department. This is far more reliable than paper timesheets or 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. This is particularly important in healthcare 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 nurse 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.
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 wards, departments, or sites. Staff assign their hours to the relevant project when submitting their timesheet. Reports show total hours and costs per project.
TimeTally records all hours worked, including overtime and night shifts. This gives you accurate data to monitor the 48-hour weekly average, rest periods between shifts, and night work limits. You can export records at any time for inspections. However, TimeTally does not actively monitor or alert for WTD breaches — it provides the data, and compliance decisions remain with you.
Yes. TimeTally records actual hours worked, not planned rotas. Staff enter what they actually worked, which may differ from the planned rota due to shift swaps, overtime, or late starts. This gives you an accurate record of hours worked alongside your rota system.
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.
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. Domiciliary carers can log their hours from their phone between visits. They enter start and end times for each shift and can use project tracking to record which client or location they worked at. Managers approve timesheets remotely.
TimeTally uses Supabase (built on PostgreSQL) with row-level security, encrypted connections, and secure authentication. All data is stored in the cloud and accessible only to authorised users within your organisation.
Guides and tools for UK healthcare providers
