Does a hi-tech company or startup have to record attendance?

As a rule, yes. The duty to keep attendance records applies to the employer for every employee the law covers, even when the work is flexible, remote or task-based. Employees the law does not cover, such as some management or personal-trust roles, are an exception that depends on the actual role. For your own case, talk to a payroll advisor or an employment lawyer.

How do we track hours when everyone works different hours?

Each employee clocks in when they start and clocks out when they finish, from the computer or the phone, whatever the time. The report adds up everyone's hours, and nobody needs to work in the same time slot.

Can a hi-tech company pay global overtime?

As a rule, yes, when the amount appears on its own line on the payslip and reflects overtime the employee actually works. Even then, you keep recording hours, and if the employee worked more than the amount covers, they are owed the difference.

What is the difference between global overtime and an all-inclusive salary?

With global overtime, the payslip has a separate line paying for overtime. With an all-inclusive salary, there is one amount that is said to include overtime too, and under the Wage Protection Law it is, as a rule, treated as regular pay only.

How do we track attendance when the team works remotely or from several countries?

From the computer, in the browser, with nothing to install, or from the mobile app. Every clock-in goes into the same employee record, so a manager sees a dispersed team in one report.

How do we stop employees from forgetting to clock in?

In ProperTime, employees who forgot to report get a reminder, and if a gap remains, the time is entered as a correction that the manager approves. The gap shows up that same day, not at month end.

Time Tracking at Israeli Hi-Tech Startups

A 25-person startup. One developer starts at seven in the morning so she can pick up the kids, the product manager works from home two days a week, a support engineer covers the evening shift, and in the week before a release everyone stays late. On the 20th of the month, someone asks the finance manager how many hours each person worked, and nobody can answer.

This guide is for hi-tech companies and startups in Israel that work flexibly and still want things in order: how to track hours without weighing the team down, what to do about remote work, and how to handle overtime when some employees get a fixed global amount.

Why hi-tech tracks hours too

Hi-tech talks about output, not hours: "as long as the release ships." But alongside that culture, Israeli law generally requires the employer to keep attendance records for every employee covered by the Hours of Work and Rest Law, including the one working from the sofa at ten at night. What decides is the actual role, not the job title or what the contract says.

There is a practical reason as well. Without records, and in a growing company that happens fast, three problems tend to arrive together: overtime nobody can calculate, arguments about hours worked when someone leaves, and a payslip where the hours are a guess. And in an overtime claim, an employer with no records starts on the weak side.

Flexible hours without the chaos

Flexibility and clocking in don't clash. As long as clock-ins and clock-outs are recorded, the employee chooses when to work. Agree on three things up front:

A framework. How many hours a week, and the core hours when everyone must be reachable (a 10 a.m. stand-up, for example).
What counts as overtime. With flexible hours, overtime isn't counted the way it is on a fixed schedule, so write down how you count it.
Who approves. Overtime is approved in advance, especially in the week before a release.

Working from home and remotely

Plenty of hi-tech employees are not in the office, and some live in another city. The simple approach is one record per employee, with several ways to clock in to it:

From the computer, in the browser, with nothing to install.
From the mobile app (Android and iOS).
On a time clock at the office entrance, for whoever comes in.

That way, a hybrid week with half the team at home looks in the report like any other week.

Global overtime in hi-tech

At many hi-tech companies, employees get a fixed monthly amount for overtime ("global overtime"), because every month they stay a little past the end of the day. It is a common arrangement and, under the conditions the law sets, generally legal:

A separate line on the payslip, not an "all-inclusive salary" with everything folded in. Under the Wage Protection Law, pay described as including overtime is, as a rule, treated as regular pay only.
Real overtime. The amount reflects hours the employee actually works.
The difference when they work more. In a release week, when an employee works well beyond what the amount covers, they are owed the difference.
Hours still get recorded. Even with a fixed amount, you keep recording every day.

This is general information. For your company's own case, check Kol Zchut (the Israeli rights information site) or talk to a payroll advisor or an employment lawyer.

A four-line policy that saves arguments

No handbook needed. Four lines in the employment contract or the notice of employment terms are enough:

Clock in and out every day, from anywhere.
Forgot? Fix it the same day, and the manager approves.
Overtime is approved in advance. Anything paid as a global amount appears on the payslip.
At month end, the manager approves the report, and it goes to payroll.

A quick check before payroll

Empty days? A day worked from home that nobody reported.
A clock-in with no clock-out? Especially for anyone working nights.
Employees on global overtime: does this month's overtime still match the amount?
Absences (sick days, reserve duty, vacation) are marked.

Time tracking in hi-tech with ProperTime

In ProperTime, a web-based attendance system, the whole team is recorded in one place, whatever the hour and wherever they are:

Reporting from the computer, the phone and a time clock, in the same system.
Overtime shown separately from regular hours, so you see mid-month who is building up hours.
A reminder for employees who forgot, and manager approval for corrections.
A payroll-ready file to load into leading Israeli payroll systems.

Want your team to report easily, with the report ready at month end? Leave your details and we'll set up a free 14-day trial for you, with real people supporting you along the way. No commitment, no credit card.

The information in this guide is general, correct at the time of publication, and is not legal, accounting, tax or payroll advice. Laws and agreements change and apply differently in every workplace, so before you decide or act, we recommend consulting a lawyer, an accountant or a payroll advisor.

Time tracking at hi-tech companies and startups: flexible hours, remote work and overtime