Simplifying Shift Verification for Temporary Staff
Organisations that rely on temporary doctors, pharmacists, nurses, or opticians often face administrative headaches when verifying hours. Coordinating paper sheets, chasing signed physical forms, or trying to register short-term cover staff onto bloated HR portals creates unnecessary friction. Using a simple locum worker weekly timesheet approval link delivered straight to a worker's inbox removes the barrier to prompt submission.
When temporary staff cover shifts across different sites or practices, they do not want to download mobile apps or remember password credentials for a system they might only use for three days. They need a quick, clear way to record their completed hours, select the correct rate types, and send the record to the manager for sign-off. TidyTimeSheets provides a lightweight, focused alternative to heavy management suites.
How the Locum Worker Weekly Timesheet Approval Link Works
The process is built specifically to keep operational friction low while maintaining total control over accurate shift accounting. Here is how your practice or business can manage temporary hours in three straightforward steps.
Step 1: Emailed Link Sent Directly to the Locum
Instead of expecting temporary workers to navigate a self-service portal, the system sends an email containing a secure link. The worker clicks the link to open their weekly timesheet on any web browser. There is no account to create, no app to install, and no password reset process if they have not covered a shift in several months.
Step 2: Clear Entry of Shifts and Custom Hour Types
Once open, the timesheet presents a clean interface tailored to your organisation. The locum inputs their daily hours against your predefined categories. Practice managers can completely customise hour types to reflect standard cover rates, emergency weekend rates, or on-call duties. Custom wording can also be configured so that field labels precisely match the terminology used within your sector.
Step 3: Fast Sign-Off and Optional Second Approval
Upon submission by the worker, the designated manager receives an instant notification to review the sheet. The manager can approve the hours with one click, reject the submission with feedback, or request additional clarification. If a manager identifies a clear typo, such as an incorrect end time, they can amend the entry directly while logging a mandatory, transparent reason for the change.
For organisations that require strict oversight, an optional second approval stage can be toggled on per organisation. This allows a senior leader, partner, or finance director to sign off hours before data is exported for invoicing or processing. If you also manage temporary site staff, you can read our guide on temp worker shift sign-off without an app.
Eliminating Login Friction for Temporary Cover
High turnover and short-term placements mean that administrative setup time must be kept to a minimum. Traditional timesheet software requires setting up user profiles, managing permission levels, and sending invitation emails that often get lost in spam folders.
With TidyTimeSheets, administrative overhead vanishes:
- Zero account setup for locums: Workers simply click their emailed link and fill out their hours.
- No app store downloads: Works seamlessly across desktops, tablets, and mobile web browsers without installing software.
- Immediate submission: Locums can complete their timesheet on the last day of their cover assignment in under two minutes.
- Fewer missed deadlines: Automatic reminders ensure sheets are submitted promptly at the end of the working week.
Customising Hour Types for Practice Requirements
Every organisation that employs locums operates under specific agreements regarding working hours, break deductions, and rate tiers. TidyTimeSheets does not force your practice into rigid, pre-packaged templates. Instead, you have full freedom to define how time is categorised.
You can set up distinct hour types for:
- Standard weekday shift cover
- Extended evening or unsocial hours
- Weekend or bank holiday emergency shifts
- Call-out cover and standby time
- Administrative or handover periods
Because you can customise the exact terminology, your locums will see familiar terms on screen, reducing human error during submission.
Clear Oversight, Audit Trails, and CSV Exports
Maintaining accurate historical records is essential when cross-referencing locum invoices against agreed shift rates. TidyTimeSheets records every event in the approval lifecycle. When a timesheet is submitted, reviewed, amended, or approved, an unalterable log records who performed the action, the date, and the specific reason for any modifications.
Once approvals are complete, senior leaders can access built-in analytics to review expenditure, track temporary staffing trends, and export complete data sets via CSV. This clean data export can be imported directly into your internal accounting systems or shared with agencies to resolve billing queries without friction. For further details on how our simple software supports small businesses, visit our home page or explore our guides page.
Comparing TidyTimeSheets to Enterprise Locum Systems
| Feature | TidyTimeSheets | Enterprise HR & Locum Portals |
|---|---|---|
| Locum Login Required | No (Link sent via email) | Yes (Username, password, 2FA) |
| Software Setup Time | Under 5 minutes | Days or weeks of onboarding |
| Pricing Structure | Flat monthly rate per organisation | Per-user fee or high percentage commission |
| Custom Hour Types | Fully configurable | Often rigid or complex to modify |
| Approval Workflow | 1 or 2-stage approval options | Often overly complex multi-level chains |
| Mobile App Needed | No (Browser-based) | Often mandatory download required |
Predictable, Flat Pricing for Your Organisation
Many software providers charge a subscription fee per active user or take a fee per submitted sheet. This model quickly becomes expensive when your pool of temporary cover staff grows or fluctuates month to month.
TidyTimeSheets operates on a transparent, flat fee structure per organisation, regardless of how many locums submit timesheets in a given month:
- Lite Plan: £5 per month (+ VAT)
- Starter Plan: £10 per month (+ VAT)
- Team Plan: £29 per month (+ VAT)
- Business Plan: £59 per month (+ VAT)
- Multi-site Plan: £99 per month (+ VAT)
All plans include annual payment discounts and come with a 14-day free trial on your first paid plan. You can view full plan features and limits on our pricing page.
Streamline Your Locum Timesheet Approvals Today
Replacing physical timesheets and complex software logins with a direct, emailed sign-off link saves your managers time and reduces pay errors. Try TidyTimeSheets today to make locum shift management effortless for both your administrative team and your temporary staff.