Food plants, commissary kitchens, breweries and bottlers run on shifts, sanitation and training. Keep hours, tasks and records in one place.
Lines run early, late or around the clock. Changeovers and sanitation shifts are scheduled around production, and overtime builds quickly when a run goes long.
Cleaning has to happen in a set order and be recorded. A missed step can mean a failed audit or a product hold.
Food safety programs expect proof that people were trained on hygiene, allergens and their specific tasks. Auditors ask for the records, not just the training.
Employees clock in at the plant with a kiosk or NFC tag, so hours start where work starts. Supervisors assign recurring sanitation and line tasks with photo proof, and training certificates go into each employee file.
EZTime records who did what and when. It does not replace your food safety plan, lab testing or production software.
| Need | How EZTime handles it |
|---|---|
| Shift and overtime control | Schedules, running totals and labor rule alerts |
| Sanitation and pre-op checks | Recurring tasks with photo proof |
| Training records | Certificates and signed acknowledgments in the employee file |
| Labor by product line | Hours tagged by job or line |
| Shift handover | Announcements and the company feed with read confirmations |
| Meals for shift workers | Optional cafeteria meal vouchers at the time clock |
A sauce producer runs two shifts and a night sanitation crew of six. Each night the crew completes a checklist in the app, with photos of the filler and kettles after cleaning. The quality manager reviews the photos before the morning pre-op check. Hours are tagged by line, so the plant manager can see that the glass-jar line uses 30% more labor per case than the pouch line.
The business in this example is fictional.
Settle these with production, quality and HR before rollout. Federal and state wage rules apply to shift premiums, meal breaks and time spent changing into required gear, so get qualified advice.
| Measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Labor hours per unit or case | The core productivity measure by line |
| Overtime as a share of hours | Shows whether runs and staffing match |
| Sanitation tasks completed on time | Shows whether the cleaning plan is realistic |
| Employees with overdue training | Keeps records audit-ready |
Review weekly with the production and quality leads. Most labor problems in food plants come from changeovers and unplanned downtime, not from individual workers.
In a plant, the workday often starts before the line does. In IBP v. Alvarez, the Supreme Court held that once an employee puts on required protective gear that is integral to the work, the walk to the line and the wait there are paid time. Changing clothes can be excluded only in narrow cases, such as under the custom or practice of a union contract.
In practice, place time clocks where the paid day begins. If workers must put on smocks, hairnets, boots and gloves in a locker room before the floor, clocks at the plant entrance and line-side clocks give different answers, and the difference adds up across hundreds of workers.
| Line | Crew per shift | Shifts | Weekly labor hours at 5 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glass jars | 9 | 2 | 720 |
| Pouches | 6 | 2 | 480 |
| Sanitation crew | 6 | 1, overnight | 240 |
| Maintenance | 2 | 3 | 240 |
| Quality and PCQI | 1 | 2 | 80 |
| Total | 1,760 |
Divide each line’s labor hours by cases produced to get labor per case. When a run goes long and the sanitation crew starts late, the delay pushes into the next morning’s pre-op inspection, which is why sanitation start and finish times matter as much as production hours.
Under the FDA’s Preventive Controls for Human Food rule, most food facilities need a food safety plan prepared or overseen by a preventive controls qualified individual, or PCQI, and staff must be trained in food hygiene and food safety appropriate to their jobs, with records kept. Schedule so that someone who can make PCQI-level decisions is reachable on every shift, and keep each person’s training dates in their file.
Sanitation is also where child labor violations have surfaced. In 2023, the Department of Labor found a sanitation contractor had employed more than 100 minors cleaning dangerous equipment at meatpacking plants overnight. Federal rules bar workers under 18 from operating or cleaning most power-driven meat processing equipment. Check ages for sanitation contractors’ crews, not only your own staff.
It can be, depending on the gear, your agreements and federal and state law. Get advice for your plant and record the time consistently.
Yes. Tasks in EZTime can require photo proof when they are completed.
Yes. Tag hours by job or line and compare them with your production numbers.
No. It helps you record the people side, such as tasks and training, that your plan depends on.
Workers under 18 cannot operate or clean most power-driven meat processing machines under federal hazardous occupation rules, and states add limits. Plants that use sanitation contractors should verify that the contractor does not put minors on those tasks.
If workers must put on protective gear that is integral to their work before walking to the line, the workday has started, so the walk and any wait at the line are paid time under the Supreme Court’s IBP v. Alvarez decision.
A preventive controls qualified individual is someone trained or experienced enough to prepare or oversee a facility’s food safety plan under the FDA’s Preventive Controls rule. Most covered facilities need at least one.
Time tracking for plants
Smaller food businesses
Free template
Direct labor in COGS
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Note: This page is general information, not legal or payroll advice. Rules differ by state and city. Examples are fictional.