Is There a Correct Way to Keep Track of Our Time?

Why, yes, there is. Have you noticed at the top of every task we have a range? Well, that range is what we’re supposed to use. And specifically using the high end because why would you choose the low end? That would only lead to them lowering the AET even more for certain tasks. That would be the ultimate act of stupidity to actually take the low range.

And, yes, I know the employee handbook doesn’t specifically mention AET; however, we’ve been told in webinars, and it’s written on every single bonus offer we get

“Bonus will be based on your total Average Estimated Time (AET) for the tasks you complete during this period only, any non-rating time submitted in the timesheet will not qualify.”

Do you really think they shift their view on AET for non-bonus weeks? They can’t even send out proper e-mails. Since those are words directly from our employer, it would be smarter to actually do what they’re telling us and not make up our own rules. I’m always hearing raters say they try to fly under the radar with this job. But if you continue to track your time with a timer, you’re bringing attention directly to yourself.

So when I saw a Reddit thread posted by Gloomy-Meat , “Do you work until it kicks you out or do you work exactly 8 hrs and log off? I sometimes work until it kicks me out and it’s a bit pass 8 hrs” . I nearly lost my eyeballs reading some of these responses. For example, like this:

I’ve worked as many as 9 with no issue. Would never go over 9 (and I got paid for the 9…)

—DewDropOregano

Or this one:

When I decide to work an 8 hour day, I do just that - work for 8 hours. Never had any issues just keeping track of my time and staying within the AET. I’m curious as to why people are adding up the AET to figure out their time in the first place? We get paid for the time we work, not the total amount of AET. It seems like a lot of stress and extra work to keep track of the AET for every task. I’ve been here over a year now just keeping track of my start and end time and never encountered any issues doing it that way.

—rameyrat

And this one really deserves a trophy:

I set a timer when I start and work until it hits 8 hours. I can’t log more than 8 hours on my time sheet so there’s no way I’m going until it kicks me off, I’m not working for free. I generally submit right around AET so it’s not really a problem anyway.

—farastar

We don’t have a regular 9:00 to 5:00 job. We don’t get to set timers. Our entire job is structured around using the AET provided to us. You need to rethink your strategy here or not be shocked if you out of the blue get fired.

And then, finally, there was someone who gets it:

I aim for exact aet as unlike what many people around here say, aet is the single most important metric for this job. You can be totally mediocre or even kind of bad at this job and stay for years as long as your aet metric is good. Being exact with aet assures there are no discrepancies in time keeping and assures that you are below the 5% allowance. It assures that you get the bonuses offered based on aet and assures you stay under the radar. I finish every 8 hour shift with 8 hours of aet, always within a few minutes of actual clock time. It’s my own personal daily game to see how exact I can be and many days I get kicked from rh within seconds of clock time. I just keep a +/- running total in my head throughout the day based on late submit or early submit and try to keep that number as close to 0 as possible. When approaching 8 hours, submit a few tasks early to compensate for network latency as there is actually time between tasks that is not being accounted for that adds up over the day. That’s it. That is this entire job. Don’t go over aet. Don’t go under aet. Be marginally effective at rating. Thank you for attending my Ted talk.

—Simeeze

And bravo to them for understanding how this job works.

So this Reddit thread was enlightening. And now we all know that these are the people who are probably getting fired and saying they have no clue why.