Time & attendance policy template
A free, ready-to-edit time and attendance policy template for Australian businesses. Set clear expectations for work hours, timekeeping, overtime, breaks and absences — built around Fair Work record-keeping obligations so your payroll stays accurate and compliant. No signup required.
Time & attendance policy
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By downloading, you agree to our template disclaimer
This time and attendance policy template reflects Australian workplace standards and Fair Work record-keeping requirements at the time of publication, and is provided as a general guide to adapt for your business. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
Why every business needs a time & attendance policy
A time and attendance policy is a structured set of guidelines that sets out how your business manages work hours, punctuality, timekeeping and absences. It tells employees how to record the hours they work, when overtime needs approval, and what happens when attendance falls short — so payroll runs accurately and everyone is treated consistently.
Under the Fair Work Act, employers must keep accurate time and wages records for seven years, showing the hours each employee works and the breaks they take. A documented policy is the simplest way to meet that obligation: it standardises practice, reduces payroll disputes, and gives you evidence of compliance if you are ever audited. It pairs naturally with your clock-in & clock-out policy and timesheet accuracy policy.
The policy applies to all employees who record time — full-time, part-time, casual and shift workers. Store it and capture acknowledgements in your HR software, and enforce it automatically with time and attendance software that records exact start, finish and break times for you.
What a time & attendance policy should cover
The building blocks of accurate, compliant timekeeping
Work hours & schedules
Standard hours, shift patterns and how alternative arrangements are approved.
Timekeeping procedures
Approved methods for recording exact start, finish and break times.
Timesheets & approval
How timesheets are completed, submitted, checked and signed off.
Overtime rules
When extra hours apply and the approval required before they're worked.
Absence & punctuality
Notifying lateness, managing excused and unexcused absences and leave.
Compliance & records
Alignment with Fair Work record-keeping and the seven-year retention rule.
What's included in this template
Comprehensive coverage of time and attendance requirements
Purpose & scope
Why the policy exists and which employees it applies to.
Work hours & schedules
Standard hours, rostered shifts and flexible arrangements.
Timekeeping procedures
Approved methods for capturing work hours accurately.
Clock-in & clock-out
Procedures for recording start and finish times each shift.
Breaks & rest periods
Recording meal and rest breaks in line with award entitlements.
Overtime recording
How additional hours are requested, approved and captured.
Timesheet requirements
Standards for completing, submitting and approving timesheets.
Absence & lateness
Notifying absence, excused vs unexcused, and managing patterns.
Employee & manager responsibilities
Obligations for honest recording, review and approval.
Non-compliance & review
Consequences of inaccurate records and policy maintenance.
Getting time & attendance right under Australian law
The Fair Work detail your policy needs to reflect
Keep records for seven years
The Fair Work Act requires employers to keep time and wages records for seven years, including the hours an employee worked and the ordinary hours and overtime within them. Electronic records are accepted if they’re legible, accessible and printable. Make clear in the policy who holds the records and how staff can request their own.
Overtime needs prior approval
Most modern awards require overtime to be authorised before it’s worked. State that employees must obtain manager approval for extra hours, and that unauthorised time will be reviewed — this protects payroll budgets while keeping you compliant with award penalty-rate obligations.
How time is recorded each shift
Clock in
Record the exact start time via the approved system, not a rounded estimate.
Record breaks
Log unpaid meal breaks and any rest periods taken during the shift.
Clock out
Record the actual finish time, including any approved overtime worked.
Approve
Managers review and sign off each timesheet before it flows to payroll.
Falsifying time records — by an employee inflating hours or a manager altering them — is serious misconduct and should be handled through a consistent disciplinary process.
Spell out how absences and lateness are managed: how employees notify a no-show, the difference between excused and unexcused absence, and how repeated patterns are addressed through fair, progressive steps rather than ad-hoc decisions. For shift-based teams, link the policy to your roster so expected hours and recorded hours can be compared at a glance. The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes the current record-keeping and hours-of-work rules — review them when you adapt the template, and again whenever your award or pay cycle changes.
Who should use this template?
Essential for any business with hourly or shift workers
Especially valuable for managers who approve timesheets and need a consistent standard to apply across the team.
Compliance resources
Official guidance on record-keeping and hours of work.
Enforce your policy automatically
RosterElf records exact start, finish and break times, flags overtime for approval and keeps a seven-year audit trail — so your time and attendance policy runs itself.
Related templates
Build a complete time and attendance framework
Time & attendance policy FAQ
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A time and attendance policy is a structured set of guidelines that sets out a company’s expectations for work hours, punctuality and time tracking. It covers how employees record their shifts, how breaks and overtime are handled, how absences are managed, and the payroll and compliance procedures that follow — giving everyone a clear, consistent standard to work to.
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A complete policy should include its purpose and scope, work hours and schedules, approved timekeeping procedures, clock-in and clock-out rules, breaks and rest periods, overtime approval, timesheet requirements, absence and lateness management, employee and manager responsibilities, and the consequences of inaccurate records. It should also reference Fair Work record-keeping obligations.
Before you download
General information only — not legal advice
This document is a general HR template provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and may not reflect the latest changes in legislation or apply to every workplace situation. RosterElf Pty Ltd and the template provider accept no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this document. Users should seek independent legal advice and customise the template to ensure it complies with all relevant laws, awards and workplace requirements.