Hybrid work has become the norm in the Netherlands. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), nearly half of all employees worked from home regularly in 2024. For professional service teams—consultancy, IT, marketing, finance—that percentage is even higher. This places new demands on time tracking.
In this article, you will learn about the challenges hybrid work brings to time tracking, which time tracking tools are suitable for hybrid or remote teams, and how to ensure employees submit their hours more quickly.
Key insights
- Hybrid workers are more likely to forget to log their hours or fill them in after the fact.This leads to inaccurate data and lost revenue.
- Overtime often remains invisible when working from home.The Working Hours Act also applies to remote workers.
- Time tracking tools for hybrid or remote teams must be platform-independent.Desktop, laptop, phone — the same features, real-time synchronization.
- Calendar integration and automated reminders are the most effective tools for getting hours submitted faster.
- Time tracking software for professional service teams combines time logging with project linking and invoicing.This is essential when employees work for multiple clients every day.
- Daily logging prevents employees from having to reconstruct their entire week on Friday.
The challenges of hybrid time tracking
Hybrid work brings specific challenges for accurate time tracking. Below, we address the key bottlenecks you need to tackle:
Lack of routine
In the office, it is easier to maintain clock-in habits. At home, the boundaries between work and private life blur, causing employees to forget to log their hours or fill them in only after the fact.
Fragmented work
Hybrid workers switch between tasks, projects, and meetings more frequently. A morning might consist of three video calls for three different clients, interspersed with email and administrative tasks. Accurately allocating that time to projects is more difficult than when you spend an entire day working for a single client.
Invisible overtime
Remote workers consistently work more overtime than office-based staff, but they record it less frequently. The feeling of "just finishing something up" at 7:00 PM is rarely added to a timesheet.
Managers losing oversight
Without physical presence, it is harder for managers to gauge who is overloaded, who has capacity, and how projects are progressing.
What can you do now?
- Assess how your team currently tracks hours and where the registration rate is lowest
- Map out how many hours are not being recorded or are being recorded late each week
- Determine whether your current tool works on all devices — desktop, laptop, and phone
What your tool needs for hybrid teams
Not every time-tracking tool is suitable for distributed teams. Hybrid collaboration requires specific features. Here are the functionalities that make the difference:
- Platform independence:the same features on desktop, laptop, and phone, with real-time synchronization
- Timer function:start at the beginning of a task, stop at the next — no estimates
- Calendar integration:automatic suggestions based on scheduled meetings in Google Calendar or Outlook
- Automatic reminders:daily or weekly notifications if hours are still pending
- Real-time dashboard for managers:who has submitted their hours, which projects are on schedule, where the workload is highest
- Digital approval flow:Employee submits, manager approves with one click, invoice goes out
Why is this relevant for consultancy and IT?
Consultancy and IT teams almost always work in a hybrid model. Employees are at client sites, working from home, or in the office — often all on the same day. Every forgotten 15 minutes at€120 per houris€30in lost revenue. With a team of 20 consultants, that adds up.
In addition, many agencies work with freelancers and flexible staff. Since the enforcement of theDutch DBA Act, transparent time tracking per client is extra important — especially when that client is not physically present.
Tools for faster time submission: practical tips
Submitting hours faster is not just a matter of tooling, but also of process and culture.
Make daily logging the norm.Set the expectation that hours are logged daily, not weekly. This takes one to two minutes per day and prevents employees from having to reconstruct their entire week on Friday.
Limit the number of project codes.Too many projects and tasks make logging confusing. Keep the structure simple and only add levels of detail where it is truly necessary.
Use favorites and templates.Most tools offer the option to set frequently used projects as favorites or to copy the previous week as a template.
Automate where possible.Some tools automatically detect which project you are working on based on your calendar or Jira ticket. This reduces manual entry to a minimum.
đź“š Read herehow to convince your team to actually use time tracking.
Overtime and work-life balance
A responsibility that becomes extra important with hybrid working: safeguarding the work-life balance. TheWorking Hours Actprescribes maximum working hours and minimum rest periods — including for remote workers.
By automatically calculating overtime based on contract hours, both employees and managers gain insight into the actual workload. When an employee consistently logs more than 45 hours per week, it serves as a signal for a conversation.
Note: theEU Working Time Directivestates that employers can be required to record all hours worked using a reliable time-tracking system. This is especially relevant in hybrid working, as overtime is less visible.
What can you do now?
- Set up automatic overtime calculation based on contract hours
- Discuss whether the workload is distributed fairly during team meetings — use registration data as a basis
- Check if your tool can send alerts when maximum working hours are exceeded
TimeChimp: time-tracking software for professional service teams
We see that hybrid teams switching to an integrated system not only track time more accurately but also invoice faster.
- Platform-independent:the same features on desktop, mobile, and tablet — real-time synchronization
- Timer and calendar integration:start with one click or have time blocks suggested automatically based on your calendar
- Automatic reminders:daily or weekly notifications if hours are still pending
- Approval flows:managers approve hours with one click, wherever they are
- Dashboards:real-time insight into registration rates, project progress, and workload per employee
- Invoicing:from approved hours to sent invoice in thirty seconds
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đź’ˇSee how TimeChimp works for consultancy firms here.
Conclusion
Hybrid working places new demands on time tracking. The key is to lower the barrier: the easier it is to log hours, the more reliable the data.
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✔️ Choose a tool that works on all devices with real-time synchronization
✔️ Use calendar integration and automated reminders
✔️ Make daily logging the norm, not weekly
✔️ Use dashboards to make workload and overtime visible
✔️ Combine the right tool with clear expectations and a culture of daily logging
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👉Looking for time tracking tools for hybrid or remote teams that help you submit your hours faster? Try TimeChimp free for 14 days.
FAQs
Make daily logging the standard (this takes one to two minutes a day), use calendar integration for automatic suggestions, turn on automatic reminders, and limit the number of project codes. A tool that works on all devices with real-time synchronization is essential for hybrid teams.
When working from home, the boundaries between work and personal life become blurred, often leading employees to forget to log their hours or fill them in later. Furthermore, hybrid workers switch between tasks and clients more frequently, making accurate allocation more difficult. Overtime often remains invisible when working from home.
Yes. The Working Hours Act prescribes maximum working hours and minimum rest periods, regardless of the work location. Employers are required to record actual working hours — including for employees who work from home or in a hybrid capacity. The EU Working Time Directive reinforces this obligation.
