Target Hours
With target hours, you define how many hours an employee is expected to work. They are the basis for the overtime account: actual hours worked are compared to target hours — the difference is overtime or undertime.
Finding the Feature
You can find the "Target Hours" setting in the employee profile:
- Go to Employees in the main menu
- Click on an employee to open their profile
- Switch to the Working Hours tab
Target hours are at the top of the tab, above deployment times.
Configuration
Two Modes
You have two options for configuring target hours:
| Mode | Description | Overtime account possible? |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly target hours | A single number for the whole week (e.g. 40 h/week). | No |
| Daily target hours | Individual target hours per weekday (e.g. Mon–Thu 8 h each, Fri 4 h). | Yes |
Daily target hours are a premium feature and a prerequisite for the overtime account. Free and Plus plans only support weekly target hours.
Weekly Target Hours
Simply enter how many hours the employee should work per week (between 1 and 100).
- Value can be entered in half hours (e.g. 37.5 h/week)
- Suitable for both part-time and full-time employees
- No daily breakdown
Daily Target Hours
For each weekday you define separately:
- Workday yes/no – by clicking the circle below the weekday
- Hours – how many hours should be worked that day (0–24 h)
The weekly total is calculated automatically and shown below the configuration.
New or changed daily target hours always apply from the day you save them. Old values are preserved as historical versions and continue to be used for calculations in the past.
Previous Target Hours
Below the current daily target hours, there is a collapsible "Previous target hours" section. It lists all historical versions with their validity period — useful for tracking part-time changes or hour reductions.
Interaction with Deployment Times
Target hours (how many hours) and deployment times (when / within which window) are separate concepts:
| Feature | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Target hours | How many hours should the employee work per day/week? | 8 h on Monday |
| Deployment times | During which time window should they work? | 08:00–17:00 |
Workday Synchronization
If an employee has both daily target hours and fixed deployment times enabled, workdays are automatically kept in sync:
- A day can only have deployment times if it also has target hours — and vice versa.
- If you add deployment times for a new day, that day is automatically activated in the daily target hours as well.
- If you set a day to "Off" in the daily target hours, it is also deactivated in the deployment times.
Effect on Absences
Which days count when recording absences (e.g. vacation) depends on the configuration:
| Configuration | Absences count on... |
|---|---|
| Only deployment times | ...days with fixed deployment times |
| Only daily target hours | ...days with daily target hours |
| Both active | ...the synchronized workdays (always identical) |
| Neither | ...Monday to Friday (default) |
If an employee already has an overtime account, you must delete it before switching to weekly target hours. Weekly target hours do not support overtime tracking.
Practical Examples
Anna works 40 hours per week, 8 hours every workday.
Configuration (daily target hours):
| Day | Workday | Target hours |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Yes | 8.0 h |
| Tuesday | Yes | 8.0 h |
| Wednesday | Yes | 8.0 h |
| Thursday | Yes | 8.0 h |
| Friday | Yes | 8.0 h |
| Saturday | No | – |
| Sunday | No | – |
Weekly total: 40.0 h
Ben works 24 hours per week — Monday and Tuesday full days, Wednesday half day.
Configuration (daily target hours):
| Day | Workday | Target hours |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Yes | 9.0 h |
| Tuesday | Yes | 9.0 h |
| Wednesday | Yes | 6.0 h |
| Thursday | No | – |
| Friday | No | – |
| Saturday | No | – |
| Sunday | No | – |
Weekly total: 24.0 h
Clara reduced her working hours from 40 h to 30 h as of April 1.
- Until March 31: old version with 8 h/day (Mon–Fri)
- From April 1: new version with 6 h/day (Mon–Fri)
Both versions remain visible in the "Previous target hours" section. The overtime account automatically uses the version that was valid at the time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need daily target hours for the overtime account?
The overtime account compares actual hours with target hours for each individual day. Weekly target hours alone are not enough, because it would be unclear how the hours are distributed across weekdays.
What happens when I change target hours?
The new version applies from the day you save it. Past months in the overtime account that are already closed are not recalculated retroactively.
Can I enter 0 hours for a workday?
Yes. A day with 0 target hours counts as a workday (e.g. for very flexible models), but does not contribute to the total.
Summary
| Aspect | Weekly target hours | Daily target hours |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | All plans | Premium only |
| Granularity | Per week | Per weekday |
| Overtime account | Not possible | Prerequisite |
| Versioning | – | History per change date |
| Typical use | Simple time tracking | Precise overtime management |
If you work with overtime, switch all employees to daily target hours. The system will then use the individual daily distribution and calculate overtime and undertime automatically.