Frequently asked questions
How time off in lieu works in general, and how TimerOff handles it in particular. If your question isn't here, contact us.
What is time off in lieu (TOIL)?
Time off in lieu is paid time away from work granted instead of a cash payment for overtime worked. An employee works extra hours, and rather than receiving an overtime rate in their pay packet, they bank equivalent time off to be taken later. The arrangement usually has to be agreed between employer and employee in advance.
Is TOIL the same as comp time or banked hours?
In practice yes — 'comp time' (compensatory time) in the US, 'banked hours' or 'lieu days' in the UK, Australia and South Africa all describe the same idea: overtime converted into time off. The legal rules around them differ a lot by country and by whether the employee is exempt or non-exempt, salaried or hourly.
What conversion rates does TimerOff support?
Four: 1:1 hour for hour, time and a half (1.5x), double time (2x), and day for day. The employer chooses the rule when approving each overtime entry, so a weekday hour can be credited at 1:1 while a public holiday call-out is credited at 2x.
Who logs the overtime — the employee or the employer?
The employee logs the hours they worked, and the employer approves them. This is deliberate: the person who worked the hours records them while the detail is fresh, and the person who authorises the cost confirms them. Nothing is credited to a balance until it has been approved.
Can an employee edit or delete an entry after submitting it?
No. Once an overtime entry or time-off request is submitted it is locked, and the lock is enforced in the database rather than only in the interface. If something was entered wrongly, the employer declines it with a comment and the employee submits a corrected entry, leaving both records visible.
Can employees take a half day, or only whole days?
Both. A request can be a full day or a range of full days, or a partial day of a specific number of hours (minimum half an hour) on a single date. Someone with four banked hours can book exactly four hours off.
What happens when a request is declined?
A declined request requires a comment from the employer, so the employee always receives a reason. The employee is notified in the app and by email, the hours stay in their balance, and they can submit a different date.
Does TimerOff prove that someone was actually on site?
It can. The shift tracker lets an employee clock in and out on their phone, capturing a GPS-verified location and timestamp for each event. Employers see active team members on a map. It is opt-in per shift and intended as shared evidence — useful to the employee defending their hours as much as to the employer checking them.
How is the balance calculated?
Balance = approved overtime hours after conversion, minus hours used by approved time-off requests. Pending items are shown separately so nobody plans around hours that have not been approved yet.
Does a TOIL balance expire?
TimerOff does not expire balances automatically. Many employers set an expiry window in policy (for example, TOIL must be taken within three months of being earned). If you operate such a rule, state it in your own policy — TimerOff will show you exactly when each hour was earned so the rule can be applied consistently.
How does this work with our payroll system?
The ledger of earned and used hours, with timestamps and approvers, is the input your payroll process needs — either to record leave taken or to value outstanding TOIL as a liability at period end or on termination. Today that is a read-and-reconcile workflow from the payroll view; direct integrations with payroll providers are on the roadmap.
Is TOIL legal where I am?
It depends on your jurisdiction, the employee's classification and often on a written agreement. Public-sector and private-sector rules frequently differ, and in some countries offering time off instead of statutory overtime pay is restricted or prohibited. TimerOff is a record-keeping tool, not legal advice — check your local employment law or take professional advice before setting a policy.
What does TimerOff cost?
TimerOff is currently free to use while it is in active development. If paid plans are introduced, existing workspaces will be told well in advance and the data you have entered will remain exportable.
How do I get support?
Email support@timeroff.com or use the contact form. We aim to reply within two to three business days.
Still stuck? Read how TimerOff works end to end, or browse the TOIL guides.