Hourly workers in the United States have a free tool provided by the Department of Labor to independently track how much they work and how much they should be paid based on the data they input.
The application, which has just been updated and renamed WorkWise Timesheet, allows users to record regular working hours, breaks, and overtime, as well as perform payment calculations.
The United States Department of Labor explains that the app is available for free on iOS and Android, can be used by both employees and employers, and works in both English and Spanish.
The update is part of a series of initiatives announced in September by the Department of Labor to facilitate compliance with labor regulations and provide tools directly to workers.
What can WorkWise Timesheet record?
The application allows users to enter clock-in and clock-out times, break periods, and hours worked for each week.
Based on that information, you can calculate the regular pay and, in situations that meet the general provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), overtime at a rate of one and a half times the regular rate.
For most covered and non-exempt workers under the FLSA, the Department of Labor states that hours worked over 40 in a workweek must be paid at least at 1.5 times the regular rate.
However, that does not mean that anyone who works more than 40 hours automatically qualifies for that formula. There are workers and occupations exempt from federal overtime rules, as well as specific situations regulated by other regulations.
The new version of WorkWise also includes options for different payment frequencies, additional calculations, and a comments feature that can be used to leave notes related to a specific workday.
It can help you verify if your paycheck matches your hours
One of the main benefits is to maintain an independent record of the hours actually worked.
An employee can later compare that record with their pay stub to verify if all hours are accounted for, if breaks were correctly deducted, and if overtime hours were accurately reflected when applicable.
The Department of Labor has noted that personal records of hours worked can be useful when there is a dispute over wages.
This is particularly relevant for employees in restaurants, hotels, construction, cleaning, warehouses, caregiving, delivery, and other sectors where schedules can change from week to week.
The application, however, does not replace the employer's obligation to maintain accurate work records. The FLSA requires covered employers to keep information on the hours worked and the wages of non-exempt employees.
The application has significant limitations
WorkWise does not cover all possible work situations, and the Department of Labor itself warns that its results depend on the user entering the data correctly.
Among the situations that are currently not calculated are tips, commissions, bonuses, certain deductions, holiday pay, additional pay during weekends, shift differentials, and regular day off pay.
For that reason, the outcome of the application should not be automatically interpreted as a legal determination of how much money an employer owes.
The Department of Labor also notes that the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations continue to be the official sources of federal standards.
In Florida, the minimum wage is now $15 per hour
For the workers in Florida, there is also a recent change that should be kept in mind when reviewing payments.
As of September 30, 2026, the general minimum wage for the state is $15 per hour, following the completion of the increase schedule approved by Florida voters.
CiberCuba previously explained the increase of Florida's minimum wage to $15 per hour and how it differently impacts tip-receiving workers.
State rules may provide additional protections beyond federal ones, so the WorkWise registry serves primarily as a tool for organizing and comparing hours and payments, not as a substitute for an individual job assessment.
What to do if there are missing hours or money in your payment
If a worker notices discrepancies between the hours they recorded and those reflected in their pay, it is advisable to keep pay stubs, schedules, messages related to shifts, and their own time logs.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor indicates that these documents may be helpful for filing a complaint.
The agency assures that its services are free and confidential and that it enforces federal wage laws regardless of the worker's immigration status.
It also states that an employer cannot fire or discriminate against an employee for filing a complaint with the Division of Hours and Wages or cooperating with an investigation.
How to get WorkWise Timesheet
WorkWise Timesheet can be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices. The Department of Labor maintains information about the application and links to the respective stores on its official WorkWise Timesheet page.
For workers with variable hours, keeping their own record can be an easy way to spot discrepancies before weeks or months go by: noting when each workday begins and ends, how long the breaks lasted, and later reviewing those figures against the paycheck received.
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