Can contractors accidentally log time?

Jason H · Oct 10, 2013 07:20:22 PM

Hi I have had problems before when periodically checking work diary screenshots and finding contractors working on other projects, surfing the net and facebook etc Today i found one of my contractors doing the same thing and i expect to get the same response (sorry i accidently logged into the wrong contract) or something lame like that to make it sound accidental. So here is my question. Can contractors accidently log time? As far as i'm aware they have a periodical popup window (Memo) or something that makes it obviously aware to them that they are logging time and to what account they are charging it to. I have only ever been an employer on odesk, so i don't have experience using the time logging feature for contractors, so some enlightenment on this topic would be appreciated.

Marcia M · Oct 11, 2013 02:27:41 AM

Of course they can. Anyone can get preoccupied and miss a little popup box or click on the wrong item (team) in a dropdown box. They should delete the entry after they realize they've made the mistake, however. Contractors get an email on Sunday telling them that the work week is ending, and they should check their work diaries, so it's also possible that a contractor is planning to review everything then. How frequently are you checking? Are you giving the contractors time to delete these entries before you catch them? If this happens frequently with the same contractor or involves a lot of hours, you should question it. Erm, what are you paying your contractors? If you're not paying much, it's understandable why they would try to get away with padding their hours.

Jason H · Oct 11, 2013 05:11:07 AM

[quote=Marcia Malory]Of course they can. Anyone can get preoccupied and miss a little popup box or click on the wrong item (team) in a dropdown box.[/quote] Yeah, i wasn't sure if the popup was too obvious to ignore or something that could be easily overlooked. I thought there were regular popups that contractors had to click on when they are logging time, which is why i found it hard to believe that contractors could be oblivious about logging time for hours on end. [quote=Marcia Malory]They should delete the entry after they realize they've made the mistake, however. Contractors get an email on Sunday telling them that the work week is ending, and they should check their work diaries, so it's also possible that a contractor is planning to review everything then.[/quote] To be honest, i don't think i have had one correct their own timesheets yet, and i have been hiring on odesk for years. [quote=Marcia Malory]How frequently are you checking? Are you giving the contractors time to delete these entries before you catch them? [/quote] Well,i don't usually check the work diaries at all. except for the hours logged per job. I used to check them a lot, but i don't like to micro manage these days. Usually when i find a contractor that has been logging hours on facebook or surfin the web, i go back to the previous weeks diaries and i usually find the same thing. They just didn't get caught last week because they delivered a reasonable amount of work, so i haven't checked the diary. But then again, i may have contractors who have corrected errors in their time logging without me knowing, as i don't know if it shows up anywhere for me to see. [quote=Marcia Malory]Erm, what are you paying your contractors? If you're not paying much, it's understandable why they would try to get away with padding their hours.[/quote] Well it varies from country to country and skill set, but i make a note not to put an hourly rate on a job posting or negotiating a different rate during the interview. I would rather a contractor tell me what they charge per hour and run with that. This particular contractor in question is from the Phillipines and costs $6 per hour. As for the padding of hours, i don't mind too much especially on small jobs that don't take much time, so i understand when they pad the hours a bit to make it worth their while to do that particular task. as long as i'm getting results for my money i'm happy. The problem with this approach is that contractors think i don't check the diary at all because i haven't noticed the few hours here and there. Then they seem to get carried away and try for 5 to 10 hours on a 1 hour job, And then i check the diary and ask them to explain.... That's when i always get the accidental logging excuse.

Marcia M · Oct 11, 2013 05:18:28 AM

No. That's not acceptable.

Aleksandr S · Oct 11, 2013 03:41:32 AM

As a contractor I can say for sure that this happens from time to time even if you are carefully turn the logger on and off. Actually this is the second annoying thing related to time tracking. The first one happens when you are so passionate about the project that forget to turn on the logger and once you realize that you no longer remember how much time exactly you have already spent =) In general you should take into account the work done. If you are 100% happy with the result why can't you forgive extra 1 or 2 hours? Even without any issues I constantly feel an invisible pressure working with oDesk team client. It is just like someone installed a live cam into your dinning room. But if such "accidental logging" happens on a regular basis, I would gently talk to the contractor. He might be wanted a little bit higher salary. Increasing his rate by $2 can make you both happy then. Oh, and there is one more thing. Sometimes I cycle through the web browser pages trying to find the one I need for my work and the logger takes a screenshot exactly at the moment when the active page is a news site I read during time breaks.

Marcia M · Oct 11, 2013 04:46:14 AM

[quote=Alexander Solovets] If you are 100% happy with the result why can't you forgive extra 1 or 2 hours?[/quote] I'm not sure what you mean by forgive. I think the client should forgive the contractor making an honest mistake; he shouldn't pay the contractor for an hour's worth of non-work.

Jason H · Oct 11, 2013 05:40:15 AM

[quote=Alexander Solovets]As a contractor I can say for sure that this happens from time to time even if you are carefully turn the logger on and off. Actually this is the second annoying thing related to time tracking. The first one happens when you are so passionate about the project that forget to turn on the logger and once you realize that you no longer remember how much time exactly you have already spent =)[/quote] So is it really quite easy to log time without knowing it? or the other way round for that matter? [quote=Alexander Solovets]In general you should take into account the work done. If you are 100% happy with the result why can't you forgive extra 1 or 2 hours? Even without any issues I constantly feel an invisible pressure working with oDesk team client. It is just like someone installed a live cam into your dinning room. But if such "accidental logging" happens on a regular basis, I would gently talk to the contractor. He might be wanted a little bit higher salary. Increasing his rate by $2 can make you both happy then.[/quote] I don't worry about 1 or 2 hours unless your already on a good rate of pay. I just don't like it when i feel i'm being taken for a ride. As for the pay increase, my contractors just ask straight up and if they are good at what they do, then i usually bump it up. However i think i'll go back to just giving bonuses when deadlines are met etc as increasing the hourly rate has very little effect on productivity or deadlines. even using a bonus system hasn't really worked that well as they still expect it even when they stuff the task up. go figure [quote=Alexander Solovets]Oh, and there is one more thing. Sometimes I cycle through the web browser pages trying to find the one I need for my work and the logger takes a screenshot exactly at the moment when the active page is a news site I read during time breaks.[/quote] yeah i don't take into account single screenshots, only patterns of screenshots over a period of time.

David G · Oct 11, 2013 07:29:38 AM

The little popup can also be turned off so that it never comes up again. I turned mine off because it used to really bother me when I was writing and then this little reminder would keep popping up.

Marvel J · Oct 11, 2013 07:35:15 AM

Nay! Yes it's true that we can make a mistake, log time to another team, but the moment we find out, it has to be deleted. Once, I found myself victim of that, but deleted it the very next hour that I noticed. It's pretty simple to get carried away with time tracking but it's something a contractor can rectify in seconds. No need to wait till the work week has ended. I don't know how other contractors work, but for me, I check my work diary every day before going to bed. Please bear in mind that there are certain contractors who find it beneficial to log in time just to cheat the client out of few bucks.If they can get away with it, cool if not, they will just make a lame excuse that it was a mistake. Keep your eyes open.

Marcia M · Oct 11, 2013 07:39:18 AM

I also don't ask for compensation if I forget to turn the tracker on, and I delete screen shots that have something non-job-related on them. I figure the reputation I have with my client is worth more than 6 minutes worth of pay.