A good timesheet is the cheapest protection a farm employer has against a minimum wage or holiday pay dispute. This guide covers what to record, how long to keep it, and where to get a free CSV template to start with.
Record, for every worker and every day, the start and finish times, unpaid breaks, total hours worked, overtime, on-call time, holiday and sickness taken, any accommodation provided and the pay. Employers must keep minimum wage records for at least six years, counted from the end of the pay reference period after the one they cover, and working time records for two years. You can download our free farm worker timesheet template (CSV), which has two example rows to delete before use.
The law does not prescribe a format. HMRC's manual says you must keep enough records to show you paid at least the minimum wage, and lists examples: contracts, timesheets, time clocking systems, rotas, attendance registers and payroll records. Paper or electronic is fine, provided the information for a worker and a pay reference period can be produced in a single document.
For a livestock farm that means, per worker per day: date, start and finish times, the unpaid break actually taken, hours worked, overtime, on-call arrangements, holiday and sickness, accommodation provided and charged, rate and pay. Add the worker's date of birth once, because age decides the minimum wage band. Our agricultural minimum wage guide shows the rates.
The usual trap is recording the rota instead of the hours. A rota says 7 till 4; the timesheet should say what happened, including the calving that ran you to 7 in the evening.
Longer than most farms do. HMRC says minimum wage records must be kept for a minimum of six years, starting on the day the pay reference period after the one they cover ends. Failing to keep sufficient records is a criminal offence, and for underpayments GOV.UK says the penalty can be up to 200% of the arrears, capped at £20,000 per worker, in its enforcement guidance.
| Record | Minimum period |
|---|---|
| Minimum wage records, including timesheets | 6 years |
| Working time records (48-hour week, night work) | 2 years from when made |
| PAYE records | 3 years from the end of the tax year |
| Scottish order time sheets | 3 years |
The two-year period comes from regulation 9 of the Working Time Regulations, and the Scottish figure from article 28 of Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order No. 73. The longest period governs, so keep timesheets for six years everywhere. Our wage records guide covers the rest.
Record it separately, because it does not always count the same way. HMRC's guidance on working hours says standby or on-call time at or near the workplace counts as working time, but a worker waiting at home to be called in is not owed minimum wage for that wait; pay is due once they arrive and are working or available for work. Any time spent responding while on call counts.
Sleep-in time has its own rule. For time work, time asleep at or near the workplace can be excluded only if the worker is permitted to sleep and has suitable sleeping facilities. The HMRC manual page on on call and stand by adds that a worker required to spend on-call time on the employer's premises may be treated as working even if relaxing.
The farm cottage is the awkward case, because it is both home and on the premises. If the worker has to be on the farm, I would treat the time as probably counting and ask HMRC or an adviser.
Wales and Scotland add allowances: the Welsh order pays 3 times the hourly rate per on-call period and the Scottish order pays 2 hours at the appropriate rate for standby. Our written statement guide has the sources.
Breaks first. GOV.UK says workers over 18 get an uninterrupted 20-minute break if they work more than six hours, 11 hours of daily rest, and either 24 hours free each week or 48 hours each fortnight. Rest breaks do not count as minimum wage working time, so a break that was interrupted by a cow in trouble is not a break. Record the break actually taken, not the one offered.
The 48-hour limit is normally averaged over 17 weeks, and workers can opt out, as GOV.UK explains. Acas says you need not log every day's hours but must keep records showing the limit is not breached unless there is an opt-out agreement, kept for two years. I could not verify any agriculture-specific exception to these rules, so assume they apply.
Where no agricultural order applies, as in England, the contract sets the overtime terms, so show overtime hours separately and say in the contract when it starts and how it is paid. Wales requires at least 1.5 times the basic hourly rate. Separate columns for total hours and overtime hours make the holiday pay calculation easier, because regular overtime belongs in holiday pay.
Put them on the same sheet, so one document tells the story of a pay period. For housing, record the days it was provided and any charge. In Great Britain the offset is £11.10 a day from April 2026: a charge at or below that has no effect on the minimum wage test, a higher charge reduces the pay that counts, and free housing adds the offset to pay.
For holiday, record hours or days taken and how they were paid. Irregular hours and part-year workers accrue 12.07% of hours worked, so for casual and seasonal staff the hours column is the holiday ledger. Our holiday pay and tied housing guide sets out the calculation, and our seasonal workers guide covers short contracts.
Record sickness hours too. Time off sick does not count as working time for the minimum wage test, and the sheet should show why a week is short.
Our free farm worker timesheet template (CSV) has one row per worker per day. It opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets, and it does not calculate pay, so add your own formulas if you want them. The two rows marked EXAMPLE show how to fill it in; delete them before use.
| Columns | What to enter |
|---|---|
| date, worker_name, worker_date_of_birth | Date as DD/MM/YYYY; birth date sets the minimum wage band |
| start_time, finish_time, unpaid_break_minutes, hours_worked, overtime_hours | Times as HH:MM; breaks actually taken; hours worked is total hours including overtime |
| on_call_type, on_call_hours_counted_as_work | None, at home or on the farm; hours that count as work |
| holiday_hours_taken, sick_hours | Hours of paid leave and sickness |
| accommodation_provided, accommodation_charge_gbp_per_day | Yes or No; daily charge, 0.00 if free |
| hourly_rate_gbp, pay_for_day_gbp | Rate and the day's pay |
| worker_initials, approved_by, notes | Sign-off and anything unusual |
Fill them in the same day, from the worker's own note of start and finish, not from memory on Friday. Round nothing. Have the worker initial each week and approve the week yourself, and keep the sheets in one folder, backed up, with the written statement and payslips. A timesheet nobody signed is much weaker if a worker disputes it later.
A spouse or farm secretary often does the entry, so keep the column names plain and agree the meaning of hours worked once. Our family employment guide covers when relatives count as workers.
FarmHQ, which is in beta, has a timesheets and wages module that keeps hours beside the livestock and money records; Ask Farmer Joe drafts, you confirm. See pricing. This guide is not legal advice; if a pay dispute starts, speak to Acas or an employment adviser.
If you pay anyone, you need records that show the minimum wage was met, and a timesheet is the clearest evidence. The format is up to you, but you must be able to produce the hours and pay for each worker and pay period in a single document. Salaried staff are covered by the minimum wage too, so keep enough to show their pay meets it.
Yes. HMRC says no particular format is required, and records can be paper or electronic. The test is whether you can produce the information for a worker and pay reference period in one document. Back the spreadsheet up, and do not overwrite old months.
At least six years, counted from the end of the pay reference period after the one the records cover. Working time records have a shorter two-year limit and Scotland's order mentions three years, but the six-year minimum wage rule is the one to follow. Failing to keep adequate records is a criminal offence.
On-call time at or near the workplace counts for minimum wage, but time waiting at home to be called in does not. Any time spent responding counts. Sleep-in time has its own rule. Record on-call separately so you can show how you treated it, and check Welsh or Scottish allowances.
Yes. Casual and seasonal staff are covered by the same minimum wage and holiday rules, and their holiday accrues from hours worked, so the hours record is the evidence. A daily sheet is far easier to defend than a weekly total, even for a six-week lambing contract.