Time sheets and payroll cut-off: what a temporary worker can demand from the company

The time sheet is the report showing a worker's clock-in and clock-out records, day by day, and the totals of hours. It is the main proof of working hours and the basis for paying overtime, night-shift premium and deductions for absences. In temporary work the subject has a particularity: the time clock is controlled by the temporary-work agency, but the hours are worked at the client company.

1. Direct answer

The worker has the right to follow their working-hours record and to receive the time sheet. When the employer does not present the mandatory controls, labor case law tends to presume the hours claimed by the employee to be true, which shifts the burden of proof in the case. For temporary workers the same controls apply, and checking the time sheet matters even more because two companies take part in the relationship.

2. Legal basis

• CLT, art. 74, §2: recording working hours, manually, mechanically or electronically, is mandatory for establishments with more than 20 employees (a threshold changed by Law 13.874/2019). Below that, the formal duty to record does not apply, but the right to overtime remains.
• TST Precedent 338: deals with the rebuttable presumption that the hours stated in the initial petition are true when the employer, obliged to keep the records, does not file them. The precedent was issued when the threshold was ten employees and must be read together with the current wording of art. 74.
• MTP Ordinance 671/2021: regulates electronic time-recording systems and the rules for receipts.
• CLT, art. 58, §1: variations in the time record not exceeding five minutes, up to ten minutes a day, are neither deducted nor counted as overtime.
• CLT, art. 71: an intra-shift break of at least one hour for shifts longer than six hours.
• CLT, art. 73: a 20% night-shift premium over the daytime hourly rate, for work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
• Constitution, art. 7, XVI: overtime paid at least 50% above the normal rate.
• Law 6.019/1974, art. 12: guarantees temporary workers, among other rights, pay equivalent to that of employees of the same category at the client company, an eight-hour day, night-work premium and paid weekly rest. The provision mentions a 20% increase for overtime, but the Constitution sets a minimum of 50%, and the applicable percentage is a matter usually debated in each case.

3. How the payroll cut-off works

The cut-off is the closing date on which the company consolidates the period's records to calculate pay. In general:

1. The month's records are consolidated by the cut-off date.
2. Invalid, missing or non-standard records are flagged.
3. The worker or manager justifies the occurrences.
4. The HR department calculates hours, absences, lateness and premiums.
5. The final time sheet is made available to the worker, and payment is made the following month.

In a temporary contract, the records may come from the client company (turnstile, time-clock system) and be sent to the agency for the calculation. Failures in this transfer are frequent, and the worker bears the consequences if they do not check.

4. What the time sheet should show

• Date, clock-in time, clock-out time and breaks.
• Total normal, overtime and night hours.
• Absences, lateness and justifications.
• Days excused by the company (holidays, collective days off).
• Identification of the worker and the company.

Days excused by the company itself, such as an officially announced collective day off, must not appear as absences or invalid records.

5. Burden of proof: what changes without the record

If the company is required to keep the record and does not file it in the case, the hours stated by the worker are presumed true, and the presumption may be rebutted by contrary evidence (Precedent 338, I). If the records presented show invariable times ("British" records), they lose evidentiary value and the burden is reversed (Precedent 338, III). This does not release the worker from describing the hours coherently and indicating what they intend to prove.

6. How to request and check the time sheet

1. Make the request in writing (e-mail or protocol), stating the period.
2. Keep the protocol and the date.
3. Compare, day by day, with your personal records: e-mails sent, messages, building access records, schedules.
4. Check excused days, holidays, collective days off and breaks.
5. If you find an error, request correction in writing, stating the exact date and the discrepancy.
6. If the company does not answer, the time sheet can be demanded in court.

7. Common mistakes

• Accepting the cut-off without checking: silence may be treated as agreement.
• Not requesting the time sheet before termination: settling the severance depends on the calculation.
• Relying on memory: keep personal records of your hours.
• Ignoring invalid records: they can lead to undue deductions.

8. In the Page Interim and Pernod Ricard case

The claimant was hired by Page Interim and assigned to Pernod Ricard Brasil from 19/02 to 03/04/2025. According to the documents in the file, Page Interim sent the payroll cut-off for 01 to 03/04/2025, communicated invalid-record notices on 08/04/2025, after the dismissal, and the time sheets were only delivered on 04/07/2025. Some of the notices referred to days that Page itself had excused in the Carnival notice.

The statutory deadline for settling severance pay is ten days (CLT, art. 477, §6), and the penalty of §8 applies when it is missed. Without the time sheet, the worker had no way to check the calculation of the amounts within the deadline. This sequence is documented in the file and is part of the facts of claim no. 1000293-10.2026.5.02.0050.

9. Checklist

• Request the time sheet in writing, with date and protocol.
• Keep a copy of all communications about the time clock.
• Check excused days and holidays.
• Compare with your personal records.
• Check the full period of the contract.
• Formally request correction of any discrepancy.

10. Frequently asked questions

Does a small company need to control time? Below 20 employees, formal recording is not mandatory, but the right to overtime exists.

Does a temporary worker get overtime? Yes. Art. 12 of Law 6.019 guarantees an eight-hour day and pay for the extra hours.

Can I prove overtime without a time sheet? Yes, through witnesses, messages, e-mails and other records.

How long must the company keep the records? As a rule, while the labor claims have not lapsed under the statute of limitations.

Practical cases and advanced questions

Hypothetical example 1: identical times. A time sheet shows clock-in at 9:00 and clock-out at 18:00 every day of the month, with no variation in minutes. Uniform ("British") records tend to lose evidentiary value, because real working hours are rarely identical every day. The worker should point out the inconsistency and indicate other evidence, such as messages sent outside working hours.

Hypothetical example 2: excused day treated as absence. The company announces a collective day off for Carnival and, at the cut-off, records "invalid entry" on those days. The worker should request correction in writing, attaching the notice. A day excused by the company cannot generate a deduction.

Hypothetical example 3: clock-in at the client company. The client's turnstile records entry, but the agency does not receive the data. The time sheet comes out incomplete. Correction depends on the client sending the records, and the worker can ask both companies to respond.

Question: is overtime paid to temporary workers? Yes. The working day is eight hours and the excess hours are paid. The applicable percentage is debated, because art. 12 of Law 6.019 mentions a 20% increase, and the Constitution sets the minimum at 50% (art. 7, XVI).

Question: can the company offset hours without an agreement? A time bank requires provision in a written individual agreement (offsetting within six months) or in a collective agreement, under art. 59 of the CLT. Without such provision, overtime is paid.

Question: when can the time sheet be used against the worker? When signed without reservation, the records may be invoked by the company. Therefore, discrepancies should be recorded in writing at the moment of checking.

Know your rights: Temporary work: rights, deadlines and rules (2026) · Labor rights guide