TimeClock 365 helps organisations turn overtime from a monthly surprise into a controlled, visible process. Overtime itself is not the problem: busy seasons, absences, and deadlines all need extra hours. The problem is overtime that nobody planned, nobody approved, and nobody notices until the payroll run. A clear overtime approval workflow fixes that without slowing down the people doing the work.

This guide explains how to design an approval process that keeps costs predictable, pays employees correctly, and stands up to an audit.

Why overtime needs its own approval process

Most organisations already approve timesheets. But a general timesheet approval workflow usually happens at the end of the week or pay period, which is too late to influence overtime. By then the hours have been worked, the cost is committed, and the only decision left is whether the record is accurate.

A dedicated overtime process adds two things a standard timesheet review does not:

  • Control before the cost. Planned extra hours are requested and approved before they happen.
  • Fast verification after the fact. Unplanned overtime is flagged within hours, while the manager still remembers why the shift ran late.

Planned vs. unplanned overtime

Planned overtime: pre-approval

Stock counts, product launches, month-end closes, and seasonal peaks are predictable. For these, the employee or team lead submits a request with the date, expected hours, and reason. The approving manager sees the request alongside the team's current hours and the shift schedule, so they can decide whether overtime is the right answer or whether another employee with spare hours could cover.

Unplanned overtime: review and verify

A customer issue, a late delivery, or a colleague calling in sick will always create some unplanned extra time. Here the goal is not to block the hours, because employees must be paid for time genuinely worked, but to verify them quickly. When the clock-out is later than the scheduled end of shift, the system flags the difference for the manager to confirm, add a reason, or correct if it was a missed clock-out.

Five rules for a workable overtime approval workflow

  • Define who approves what. Set approvers by team, department, or location, with a backup approver for holidays and sick days so requests never get stuck.
  • Set thresholds, not just totals. Daily and weekly thresholds catch overtime as it builds, rather than at the end of the month. Use the rules that apply to your contracts and jurisdiction, as explained in our guide to overtime calculation.
  • Require a reason code. A short list of reasons, such as cover for absence, deadline, or customer request, makes overtime reports useful instead of just large.
  • Set a review window. Unplanned overtime should be confirmed within one or two working days, not at the close of the pay period.
  • Keep the audit trail. Every request, approval, edit, and rejection should be stored with the user and time, so payroll and HR can answer queries with evidence.

Base overtime on real arrival and departure times

An approval is only as good as the hours it approves. If end times are typed in by hand at the end of the week, managers end up approving estimates. Accurate overtime starts with accurate clock-in and clock-out data.

This is where combining attendance with door access control helps. When the badge, phone credential, or fingerprint that opens the staff entrance also records the start and end of the working day, overtime is calculated from when someone actually entered and left the building. Managers reviewing a request can see the entry and exit events next to the timesheet. We cover this model in depth in Your Door Is Your Time Clock.

Use reports to manage overtime, not just pay it

Approved overtime data is also one of the most useful management signals an organisation has. Regular attendance reports by team, location, and reason code show:

  • Which teams consistently rely on overtime, which may point to understaffing rather than a busy week.
  • Whether extra hours are spread fairly or always fall to the same few employees.
  • How much overtime is driven by absence cover, which links overtime cost to absenteeism.
  • Where unapproved or unexplained hours are adding to payroll leakage.

Getting approved overtime into payroll cleanly

The final step is making sure payroll receives only approved hours, already split into regular and overtime rates. Exporting directly from the attendance system, rather than re-keying totals into a spreadsheet, removes a common source of errors. Our payroll integration guide and the payroll export page explain how attendance data should flow into pay.

How TimeClock 365 handles overtime approval

TimeClock 365 records hours from mobile apps, web, biometric terminals, NFC, and door access events, compares them with the schedule, and flags overtime for the right approver. Approvals, reason codes, and edits are logged automatically, and approved hours are ready for payroll export. Because attendance and door access run in one cloud system, the record a manager approves is based on real entry and exit events.

TimeClock 365 is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2022, available in 12 languages, and used by more than 3,000 companies in 20+ countries.

Frequently asked questions

What is an overtime approval workflow?

TimeClock 365 treats an overtime approval workflow as the set of rules that decides who can authorise extra hours, when that approval must happen, and what happens to hours worked without it. A good workflow combines pre-approval for planned overtime, a fast review step for unplanned overtime, and a clear record of every decision, so payroll only receives hours that a manager has actually signed off.

Should overtime be approved before or after it is worked?

TimeClock 365 supports both, and most organisations need both. Planned overtime, such as a stock count or a project deadline, should be requested and approved in advance so managers control cost. Unplanned overtime, such as a shift that runs late, is captured automatically from the clock-out time and flagged for review within a set period. Employees must still be paid correctly for hours genuinely worked, so post-approval is about verification, not refusing pay.

How does door access help verify overtime hours?

TimeClock 365 is the only platform that combines attendance management and door access control in a single cloud system. The badge, phone, or biometric event that opens the door also creates the attendance record, so overtime is based on when someone actually arrived and left the building. Managers reviewing an overtime request can see the entry and exit events next to the timesheet instead of relying on a manually typed end time.

How can managers keep overtime costs under control?

TimeClock 365 gives managers real-time visibility of hours as they accumulate, so they can see who is approaching an overtime threshold before the week ends. Combined with shift schedules, approval rules by team or role, and overtime reports by department, this lets managers rebalance shifts early, spread extra hours fairly, and spot teams that rely on overtime as a substitute for adequate staffing.

Is overtime data in TimeClock 365 secure and audit-ready?

TimeClock 365 is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2022, is available in 12 languages, and is used by more than 3,000 companies in 20+ countries. Every overtime request, approval, edit, and rejection is stored with the user and timestamp, which gives HR and payroll an audit trail for inspections or pay queries. Teams can test the full approval workflow with a 14-day free trial.

Ready to put overtime under control without slowing your teams down? Start your free 14-day trial.

Related: see how TimeClock 365 handles payroll export and attendance tracking.