Yes, you can keep your urenregistratie in Excel (hours registration in a spreadsheet). The Arbeidstijdenwet (Dutch Working Hours Act) asks for a proper record of working and rest times, kept for at least 52 weeks, and does not prescribe a tool. A sheet with one row per shift and a few formulas will do for a small team with fixed hours. It stops working when your people start on sites and in vans, hours arrive days later, and you cannot prove breaks and rest times. Below you find a column layout, the formulas, and six signs that it is time to switch.
When that moment comes, Suivo’s time tracking for field teams in the Netherlands replaces the sheet with app, badge or vehicle registration.
Can you keep hours registration in Excel?
Yes. Article 4:3 of the Arbeidstijdenwet requires a “deugdelijke registratie” (proper record) of working and rest times that allows supervision of compliance. The Arbeidstijdenbesluit (Working Hours Decree) adds that you keep it for at least 52 weeks. The law does not say which tool you use.
What your sheet must let you show, for adults:
- no more than 12 hours per shift and 60 hours per week;
- no more than 48 hours per week on average over any 16 weeks;
- a break of at least 30 minutes after 5.5 hours of work, and 45 minutes after 10 hours (a cao can deviate, but never below 15 minutes after 5.5 hours);
- at least 11 hours of daily rest (once per 7 days it may be 8 hours when the work requires it).
The Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie (Netherlands Labour Authority) uses a base fine of EUR 10,000 for a missing record. That amount applies to employers with 50 to 99 employees; it is multiplied by 0.5 below 10 employees, 0.75 for 10 to 49 and 1.5 from 100. Drivers of goods vehicles follow separate transport rules, with records kept for 104 weeks. The full limits are in our guide to the Dutch Working Hours Act.
A simple Excel layout for employee hours
Use one sheet for all employees, with one row per employee per shift. Sort by employee, then by date. Put contract hours on a second tab called “Contracts” (column A employee, column B contract hours per week).
| Column | Header | What goes in | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Date | Date of the shift start (dd-mm-yyyy) | Links hours to a day |
| B | Employee | Name or personnel number | The record must be per employee |
| C | Site or project | Site, customer or project code | Costing, and where the work was done |
| D | Start | Start time (hh:mm) | Working time |
| E | End | End time (hh:mm) | Working time |
| F | Break (min) | Total break in minutes | Break rules |
| G | Worked hours | Formula | Net hours per shift |
| H | Year-week | Formula (ISO year and week, e.g. 202702) | Weekly totals |
| I | Week total | Formula | 60-hour check and overtime |
| J | Rest before shift | Formula | 11-hour rest check |
| K | Check | Formula | Flags shifts to review |
| L | Approved by / date | Supervisor initials and date | Shows who checked the record |
| M | Correction note | Reason for any change | Explains edits later |
Three habits make the sheet much stronger: enter hours on the day itself, never delete rows (add a correction note instead), and save a locked copy per month for the 52-week archive.
Formulas for worked hours, breaks and rest
These formulas use no macros. English Excel uses commas; Dutch Excel uses semicolons and Dutch function names. Row 2 is the first data row.
| Column | Formula (EN = English Excel, NL = Dutch Excel) |
|---|---|
| G Worked hours | EN =MOD(E2-D2,1)*24-F2/60NL =REST(E2-D2;1)*24-F2/60 |
| H Year-week | EN =YEAR(A2-WEEKDAY(A2,2)+4)*100+ISOWEEKNUM(A2)NL =JAAR(A2-WEEKDAG(A2;2)+4)*100+ISO.WEEKNUMMER(A2) |
| I Week total | EN =SUMIFS(G:G,B:B,B2,H:H,H2)NL =SOMMEN.ALS(G:G;B:B;B2;H:H;H2) |
| Overtime (optional) | EN =MAX(0,I2-XLOOKUP(B2,Contracts!A:A,Contracts!B:B))NL =MAX(0;I2-X.ZOEKEN(B2;Contracts!A:A;Contracts!B:B)) |
| J Rest before shift (from row 3) | EN =IF(B3=B2,(A3+D3-(A2+E2+(E2<D2)))*24,"")NL =ALS(B3=B2;(A3+D3-(A2+E2+(E2<D2)))*24;"") |
| K Check | EN =IF(G2>12,"over 12h",IF(AND(G2>10,F2<45),"break under 45",IF(AND(G2>5.5,F2<30),"break under 30","")))NL =ALS(G2>12;"over 12h";ALS(EN(G2>10;F2<45);"break under 45";ALS(EN(G2>5,5;F2<30);"break under 30";""))) |
The overtime column is optional. It looks up each employee’s contract hours on a second sheet called Contracts (names in column A, weekly hours in column B). XLOOKUP needs Excel 2021 or Microsoft 365.
How they work, in plain language:
- Worked hours: MOD (REST) handles shifts past midnight, so 22:00 to 06:00 gives 8 hours. Multiplying by 24 turns Excel time into decimal hours.
- Year-week: combines the ISO year and ISO week number, so week 1 of 2027 is not added to week 1 of 2026 once your archive covers more than a year.
- Check: compares the total break in column F with the thresholds. The law lets you split breaks into parts of at least 15 minutes, so a flagged row may still be fine.
- Rest before shift: takes the end of the previous shift (plus one day if it ran past midnight) and the start of this one. Use conditional formatting to colour values under 11 red. A red cell is a prompt to check, not proof of a breach.
- Week total: colour values above 60 red. Remember a cao may set stricter limits; it can never raise the 60-hour maximum.
What Excel cannot check easily: the 48-hour average over 16 weeks, weekly rest, night shift rules, and whether the times are true.
Where does Excel break down for field and site teams?
A spreadsheet assumes someone types in correct times. On a construction site or in a service van, that assumption fails:
- Hours from memory. Crews write hours on paper or in a chat, and someone retypes them on Friday or at month end.
- Overwritten formulas. One copied cell turns a formula into a fixed number, and the totals still look right.
- Several versions. The planner, the site manager and payroll each keep their own copy. At an inspection, which one is the record?
- No proof of who changed what. A proper record should show corrections, not hide them.
- No link with the vehicle. Travel time, the first site and the return to the yard are guesses.
- Personal data on a shared drive. Names and working times fall under the AVG (the Dutch name for the GDPR), so access and deletion need rules.
For more pitfalls, read about common time tracking mistakes mobile teams make.
What changes when you move to an app, badge or vehicle registration?
The record is made at the moment work starts and ends, not afterwards. With Suivo, employees register via the mobile app on their own smartphone, by scanning a badge, at a fixed on-site terminal, or automatically through the vehicle they drive. Hours, absences, mobility fees and surcharges land in one validation dashboard, where a supervisor approves them. Every hour keeps a digital trace, ready for export in one click, and approved hours sync with payroll and ERP systems through an open API. Ask us about your payroll provider.
Two honest remarks. First, a digital system that registers attendance counts as a personnel monitoring system according to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Dutch Data Protection Authority), so if you have a works council, it must consent first. Second, compare methods before you buy: our guide to the inkloksysteem for field teams sets app, terminal and vehicle side by side, and how to track field employee hours covers the basics.
A switch checklist: 6 signs it is time
- Hours arrive late. Timesheets from sites or vans reach the office days after the work.
- Corrections pile up at month end. Payroll waits while someone chases missing times.
- You cannot prove breaks or rest. The sheet has totals, but no reliable start and end times.
- More than one person edits the file. Versions differ, and nobody knows which one is right.
- Your people work on several sites a day. One row per day no longer shows where hours went.
- You have drivers. Their working time follows other rules and belongs with vehicle and tachograph data.
One or two ticks: tighten your sheet with the layout above. Three or more: it is time to look at a system that registers hours where the work happens.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make an hours sheet in Excel?
Create one row per employee per shift with the columns date, employee, site, start, end and break in minutes. Add formula columns for worked hours, week number and weekly total. Format the time cells as hh:mm and lock the formula columns so nobody overwrites them.
How do I calculate hours in Excel?
Use =MOD(End-Start,1)*24-Break/60, which gives decimal hours and also works for shifts that run past midnight. In Dutch Excel the formula is =REST(End-Start;1)*24-Break/60, with semicolons instead of commas.
How can I keep track of my employees’ worked hours?
Record start, end and break times on the day itself, per employee, and have a supervisor approve them weekly. Keep the records for at least 52 weeks. For people on sites and in vans, an app, badge or vehicle registration is more reliable than filling in a sheet afterwards.
Which tool is best for hours registration?
For a small team with fixed hours at one location, a well-built spreadsheet can be enough. For field teams, choose a tool that registers hours where work starts, checks breaks and rest automatically, and exports approved hours to payroll.
Is a planning in Excel the same as an hours registration?
No. A planning shows who should work when. The Arbeidstijdenwet requires a record of the hours that were actually worked, including rest times. Keep the two separate, even if both are in Excel.
Ready to retire the spreadsheet?
Suivo is a Belgian company with more than 15 years of experience in time tracking technologies. Start with registration for the team that struggles most, and add vehicles or equipment later without replacing anything. We will look at your current sheet and show you what changes.
