Understanding the difference between Scheduled, Actual, and Paid hours is key to accurate reporting, compliance, and payroll processing in TimeWellScheduled.

Each serves a different purpose -and together they give you full visibility into workforce performance.

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Scheduled Hours are the hours you assign when building the schedule.

These represent:

• The planned start and end times
• The expected labour cost
• The budgeted coverage for the department

Scheduled hours are your plan.

Important:

Once a shift has started, Scheduled Hours cannot be edited.
This ensures reporting integrity and prevents retroactive schedule manipulation.

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Actual Hours are the hours employees record when they punch in and out.

These represent:

• Real worked time
• Attendance accuracy
• Overtime calculations
• Variance from the schedule

Actual hours are your reality.

Important:

Once the shift has started and punches begin, Actual Hours cannot be manually edited at the schedule level.
This protects time-tracking integrity and ensures accurate audit history.

If corrections are required, they must follow your organization’s punch approval process.

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Paid Hours are the hours that are finalized and sent to payroll.

This is the number:

• Reviewed by management
• Adjusted if required (approved overtime, rounding, corrections, etc.)
• Exported to your payroll provider

Paid hours are your approved financial record.

Unlike Scheduled and Actual hours, Paid Hours can be edited during the approval process before being sent to payroll.

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Why Scheduled & Actual Cannot Be Edited After Start

TimeWellScheduled locks Scheduled and Actual hours once a shift begins to maintain:

• Data integrity
• Compliance protection
• Accurate reporting
• Clean audit trails

This prevents:

• Retroactive schedule changes
• Disputes about original planned hours
• Inconsistent labour reporting

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How Open Schedules Work

An Open Schedule occurs when an employee punches in that does NOT have a scheduled shift.

There is no predefined shift — however:

• TimeWellScheduled still creates a shift placeholder
• It appears on the schedule for coverage tracking
• It is included in reporting totals

 

Why This Matters

When using the COPY Schedule feature:

Open schedule shifts are copied forward just like assigned shifts.

This ensures:

• Coverage gaps are preserved
• Planning remains consistent week-to-week
• Departments don’t accidentally lose required labour

Open schedules are a critical part of maintaining proper staffing levels during schedule duplication.

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Summary

Type	Represents	Editable?
Scheduled	What was planned	❌ Locked once shift starts
Actual	What was worked	❌ Locked once shift starts
Paid	What is approved for payroll	✅ Editable during approval

 

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