Glossary
Time tracking and scheduling glossary
These are the terms employers meet when they record working time and plan shifts, each defined in one sentence first. Under every definition, a short note says how Regsta handles the thing, with a link to the page that explains it. The definitions are general; local law and your contract decide the details.
Time and attendance
Time and attendance is the practice of recording when employees start work, take breaks and finish, so the hours are known for pay and for planning.
It covers the clock-in record, the check of those hours and the report that goes to payroll. It can be kept on paper, in a spreadsheet or in software. The record is only as useful as it is accurate and checked before payroll runs.
In Regsta: Regsta records clock in, break and clock out on the employee's own phone or computer, sends each finished shift to a manager as awaiting approval, and exports approved hours as a pay summary file, CSV or Excel.
Time tracking in RegstaTimesheet
A timesheet is a record of the hours an employee worked in a pay period, usually shown day by day with start, end and break.
It is the document a manager approves and payroll pays from. Weekly timesheets are the most common; some employers use two-week or monthly periods.
In Regsta: In Regsta each finished shift is one entry. The employee sees their week, and the manager approves, rejects with a reason, or approves several shifts without findings at once, up to 200. Approved entries are locked.
How approving working time worksTime card
A time card is another name for a timesheet: the record of when an employee started and finished work each day.
The name comes from the paper card that was punched in a time clock. Today it usually means a weekly timesheet, or the hours between clock in and clock out less breaks.
In Regsta: Regsta has no paper cards and no shared time clock. Each employee clocks in on their own account, and the hours worked are shown for each shift.
Time card calculatorClock in and clock out
Clocking in and clocking out means recording the start and the end of a shift at the moment each happens.
The clock-in and clock-out times are the basis of the hours worked, with breaks recorded between them. Recording at the time, rather than from memory later, makes the hours easier to trust.
In Regsta: In Regsta an employee taps Clock in, Start break, End break and Clock out. If the connection drops, the taps are saved on the device and sent in order when it is back online, and a tap sent twice is saved once.
How to record working timeShift schedule
A shift schedule is the plan of who works which shift, and when, over a period such as a week.
It is published ahead of time so employees know when they work, and changes after publication need a clear route.
In Regsta: Managers build the week from shift templates or by copying last week, see availability and approved time off while assigning, then publish. Employees see their own shifts and mark them as seen.
Scheduling in RegstaOpen shift
An open shift is a scheduled shift that has no employee assigned to it yet.
Employers offer open shifts to the team instead of phoning round. Who gets the shift is decided by a manager, usually after checking time off, other shifts and rest.
In Regsta: A manager in Regsta can offer a shift as an open shift. Employees request it from their schedule, and a manager decides who gets it.
Scheduling in RegstaCover request
A cover request is an employee's request for someone else to work a shift they cannot work.
Both change who is on the schedule after it was published, so they normally need a manager's approval. What matters is whether the person taking the shift is available and has had enough rest.
In Regsta: In Regsta an employee asks for cover on a shift. Find cover lists colleagues who could take it, checked against approved time off, overlapping shifts and the company's working-time rules, and a manager approves or rejects the request; a rejection needs a reason.
How to build and publish a shift scheduleOvertime
Overtime is time worked beyond a set number of hours in a day or a week, often paid at a higher rate.
Whether overtime earns a premium depends on the country, state, sector, contract and type of role. The threshold and the rate must come from the rules that apply to the employee. Some places set a legal premium; others leave it to the contract.
In Regsta: Regsta does not calculate overtime pay. It records the hours and adds no overtime, premiums or supplements to the pay file; your payroll system applies your pay rules.
Overtime calculatorBreak
A break is time during a shift when the employee is not working. It can be paid or unpaid.
An unpaid break is taken off the hours worked and a paid break is not. Minimum breaks may be set by law or contract, and they differ by place.
In Regsta: Regsta records the start and end of a break with Start break and End break, keeps the break with the shift and shows the hours worked.
How to record working timeRest period
A rest period is time an employee must have free from work, between two shifts or within a week.
Rules usually set a minimum daily rest between the end of one shift and the start of the next, and a minimum weekly rest. The numbers differ by country and by contract.
In Regsta: Regsta checks daily and weekly rest against the working-time setting the company chose. It warns about a breach and never blocks a time entry.
Countries and working-time rulesWorking-time rules
Working-time rules are the legal or contractual limits on how long, how late and how often employees can work.
They typically cover average weekly hours, daily and weekly rest and long shifts. They come from law, collective agreements and employment contracts, and the employer is responsible for meeting them.
In Regsta: Each company in Regsta picks one setting: the EU statutory rules, the UK statutory rules, its own limits, or off. Regsta warns about a breach and never blocks a time entry; the employer stays responsible.
Countries and working-time rulesPayroll export
A payroll export is a file of approved hours that is handed to payroll to calculate pay.
It usually lists each person, the period, the hours and sometimes the hourly rate. Exporting only approved hours keeps unchecked time out of pay.
In Regsta: Regsta exports approved hours as a pay summary file with hours, hourly rate and gross pay per person, or as CSV or Excel. It has no connection to payroll systems: you import the file yourself.
How to export hours to payrollPay period
A pay period is the recurring span of time for which employees are paid, such as a week, two weeks or a month.
Hours are totalled for each pay period, approved and then sent to payroll. Closing the period stops later edits.
In Regsta: In Regsta, when every shift in a period is approved a manager can close it. Closing freezes the hours: nothing in the period can be changed or added until it is reopened with a reason.
How to close a pay periodActive employee
An active employee is, in per-employee software pricing, a person who currently counts towards the bill rather than someone who has left.
Vendors define it differently: some count anyone with an account and others count people who clocked in. Read the definition before you compare prices.
In Regsta: In Regsta an active employee is anyone with an employee profile that is not deactivated. Admins, planners, payroll users and auditors count only if they also have an employee profile.
Regsta pricingTimesheet approval
Timesheet approval is a manager's check that recorded hours are correct before they become final.
Approval catches a missed clock-out or a wrong time before payroll runs. A record of who approved what, and when, is part of the audit trail.
In Regsta: Managers in Regsta approve shifts one by one or together, reject with a reason, or undo an approval with a reason. Approved hours are locked and can only change through a correction, which keeps the original entry.
How approving working time worksRecord the hours instead of adding them up
Create your company, invite your team and approve the first week of hours.