5. Timesheets and Off-The-Job Hours
What are Timesheets and off-the-job hours?
The Timesheets area of the One FIle portfolio allows you to record time spent throughout your apprenticeship according to a range of categories created by you Programme Administration Team. If you find that there are not adequate categories to record your time, or are unsure which parts of your apprenticeship should be recorded here, you should liaise with your Tutor or Assessor in the first instance.
When your record time in your One File portfolio, you can indicate whether the entry refers to training spent on or off the job. All entries are visible to your Tutor and Employer, and the Timesheets will automatically calculate the total off-the-job recorded and the overall percentage of their target hours met.
Also, if you record time spent during the upload of an piece of evidence as part of an assessment, or within the learning journals, then you do not then need to log the time separately in the Timesheets area; One File automatically captures all time recorded across the portfolio.
Off-the-job training is defined as ‘learning that takes place outside the normal day-to-day working environment.’ The training must be relevant to the apprenticeship standard, and could include:
- Theory – such as lectures, role playing or online learning.
- Practical training – such as industry visits, mentoring or competitions.
- Learning support – such as assignments or assessments.
As an apprentice, you must spend 20% of your contracted hours completing off-the-job training.
How do I access my Timesheet?
Once you have logged into One File, access your portfolio and locate the Timesheet icon in the Activity tab. Additionally, you can use the quick-link on the left-hand menu of the One File web interface, it is the fifth icon down located below Assessments and above Learning Journal.
How do I create a Timesheets Entry?
When you are ready to begin recording time in your portfolio, access the Timesheet area using either method previously mentioned, and then follow the steps below to make an entry:
- Open your portfolio and access Timesheets.
- Click on the Create Timesheet Entry button in the top-left of the screen.
- Enter the Timesheet Entry text to provide a summary of why the time is being recorded.
- Select the relevant Category, you will have a range of categories to choose from, select the one most relevant to the time you are recording or the one you have been instructed to use.
- Input the start date, start time and the total duration in hours and minutes. Please note you must populate both fields otherwise you cannot save your entry.
- Check the box to indicate whether the time contributes to the off-the-job calculation.
- Click the Save button to record your entry.
When timesheet entries have been created, you will see a list of all entries and a calculated total of time spent separated by timesheet category. These values will change based on the date filters displayed at the top of the Timesheets section.
Timesheet entries generated from assessments cannot be changed from this page. If you do need to change the values, the assessment will need to be unlocked by your tutor, you can ask them to do this and explain you need to adjust the assessment time recorded.
