Bench time shows paid capacity not assigned to project work, and Everhour keeps the source hours organized.
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Bench time answers a practical staffing question: how many paid working hours were not assigned to project work during a day, week, or pay period. The basic comparison is paid working hours minus assigned project hours. A person with 40 paid working hours and 31 project hours has 9 bench hours.
The input choice matters. Paid working hours can include clocked time, approved paid breaks, training, internal meetings, or other paid time based on policy. Unpaid meal periods generally stay out of paid working hours when the employee is completely relieved of duty. Project hours should use the same period as the working-hour total.
Use this formula for a clean bench-time total: bench time equals paid working hours minus assigned project hours. Utilization uses the other side of the same comparison: assigned project hours divided by paid working hours, multiplied by 100. The result shows how much paid capacity went to project work.
For example, an employee records 40 paid working hours in one week and 31 assigned project hours at $32 per hour. Bench time is 9 hours. The direct wage cost of that bench time is $288. Utilization is 77.5%, because 31 project hours divided by 40 paid working hours equals 0.775.
Bench time is a utilization category, not an overtime rule. A covered, nonexempt employee in the United States must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed FLSA workweek, at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay. Bench hours still count as hours worked when they are paid working time.
Do not average a light project week with a heavy project week to erase overtime. An FLSA workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, and overtime is calculated within that workweek. State law, employer policy, or a contract can add stricter overtime, break, or premium-pay rules.
A one-off bench-time calculation is enough when you need a quick staffing check for one employee, one week, or one client review. The calculation also works for a freelancer comparing paid admin time with client hours, as long as the inputs use the same date range and time category.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when bench time affects payroll review, capacity planning, billing, or manager approval. Everhour timecards track daily, weekly, and monthly work-hour totals, compare project hours with working hours, and export approved timecard data for payroll or archive workflows.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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Subtract assigned project hours from paid working hours for the same period. A timesheet with 38 paid working hours and 30 assigned project hours has 8 bench hours. Keep unpaid meal periods out of paid working hours when the employee is completely relieved of duty during the meal period.
Bench time counts toward overtime when it is paid working time for a covered, nonexempt employee. Under the federal FLSA baseline, covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed workweek at not less than 1.5 times the regular rate.
Employer-provided short breaks, usually about 5 to 20 minutes, are compensable hours worked under federal law and count toward weekly overtime. They also stay inside paid working hours for bench-time math unless your internal utilization policy assigns them to a separate paid category.
Negative bench time means assigned project hours exceed paid working hours for the period. That usually signals a timesheet mismatch, duplicate project entries, missing working-hour records, or project time entered outside the selected date range. Reconcile the source entries before using the number for payroll, billing, or capacity planning.
Bench time and non-billable time overlap, but they are not identical. Non-billable time can include internal project work, training, admin tasks, and meetings. Bench time usually means paid capacity not assigned to project work. Define the column before comparing employees, teams, or clients.
Everhour timecards show daily, weekly, and monthly work-hour totals, then compare working hours with project hours. Managers can review normal-hours highlighting, Team Hours data, and exported timecard files before using bench-time totals in payroll, capacity, or utilization checks.
Track working hours and project hours in one review flow. Everhour timecards support approvals, project-vs-working-hour comparisons, and exports for cleaner payroll and capacity decisions.
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