The Ultimate List of Metrics to Measure Working Time
After exploring HR indicators related to employee movement and turnover, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and organizational demographics and structure, today we’re diving into a fundamental pillar of human resources management: working time.
Whether you’re talking about productivity, employee well-being, or compliance, tracking working time in all its forms is essential to understanding what’s really going on in your organization Overtime, absenteeism, lateness, leaves, availability… these aren’t just numbers: they tell a story — one of workload, engagement, and the balance between performance and health.
In this fourth part of our “Ultimate List” series, we’re sharing around fifty HR metrics to help you better analyze, anticipate, and take action on working time issues.
Remote and Hybrid Work (7)
- Average number of remote workdays per week
- Total number of remote workdays
- Average number of remote workdays per employee
- Average number of on-site workdays per employee
- Percentage of employees working fully remotely
- Percentage of employees in hybrid work arrangements
- Remote work adoption rate by department or job group
Overall Working Time (6)
- Total number of scheduled work hours
- Total number of actual hours worked
- Gap between scheduled and actual hours worked
- Average number of hours worked per employee per week
- Average number of hours worked per employee per month
- Cost of hours worked
Absenteeism and Leave (27)
- Total number of hours of absence
- Number of statutory absence hours
- Number of incidental absence hours
- Number of administrative absence hours
- Absenteeism rate
- Absence frequency rate
- Average duration of absences
- Attendance rate
- Number and percentage of employees on leave
- Number of days lost per employee
- Number of sick days per employee
- Total number of sick days
- Average number of absent employees per day
- Absence breakdown by reason
- Absence breakdown by gender
- Absence breakdown by age group
- Absence breakdown by tenure
- Absence breakdown by department
- Cost of absenteeism
- Cost of absence hours
- Absence hours as a percentage of labor costs
- Average number of hours worked before first sick leave
- Number of absence occurrences
- Number and percentage of employees on administrative leave
- Number and percentage of employees on statutory leave
- Bradford Factor
- Number of employees who took their full allocated leave during the year
Overtime (10)
- Total number of overtime hours
- Overtime rate
- Number and percentage of employees working overtime
- Number of overtime occurrences
- Overtime frequency rate
- Average duration of overtime worked
- Cost of overtime hours
- Overtime as a percentage of labor costs
- Overtime breakdown by department
- Overtime breakdown by hierarchical level
As we always say, the goal isn’t to drown in a sea of metrics or use them all — it’s to select those that align with your organizational challenges. When it comes to working time, a good HR dashboard can quickly make the difference between reactive and strategic management.
Next up in our series: HR indicators for recruitment! Until then, take the (working) time you need to explore these metrics, tailor them to your reality… and take action.
