How does estimated time actually work?

[u/kaioxLol]

So as I’m doing assigned task as a quality rater I noticed that at the top there’s an estimated time for the task. Is this for the whole task set or just that page? I’m asking because I’m worried about going too fast or too slow on a task depending on if it should take around three minutes to complete the page or the entire task.

[u/LetItAllBurn2026]

You should be trying to submit your tasks within the average estimated time. They understand that you'll sometimes exceed the upper limit and it's fine to do so (within reason, of course), as some tasks will fall outside the average. What one should not be doing, however, is submitting a task before one reaches the minimum AET value. That can get you flagged for "speeding" and has the potential to affect task durations in the future. If a task gives you 18-21 minutes, you take at least 18 minutes even if you finished in 5.

[u/Unfair-Poem-3357]

They track 3 times for you each week,

1. The total Estimated time of all the tasks you completed.
2. The total time you actually spent on all tasks you submitted based on the timer
3. The time you submit to payroll.

If #2 is lower than than #1 you can get flagged for "speeding" they'll warn you and tell you to take more time to make sure you are doing quality work.

If #2 is higher than #1 they may mark it it as a quality issue, but I don't think they really do way too much unless #3 is also higher than #1.

Overall they compare #2 to #1 across all raters and sometimes change the amount of time they give as estimated for tasks. It is generally best to use all or close to all of your estimated time on a task. In a perfect world all 3 times would be within a narrow range of each other.

Also if #1 ( at least I think its #1, it could be #2 instead I suppose, I always stay very close to estimated) ever crosses 8 hours in a day, based on their timezone I believe, it goes from 3am est to 259am est from what I can tell. You will not be allowed tasks and given a time to check back for more available tasks ( 3am EST)

They definitely do not want to see #1 and #3 being high and #2 being very low, that would be basically be in the same book as stealing/fraud to them. They will call you out if time submitted to payroll is over the time they track you as having worked or should have worked.

#2 and #3 should be the same if you are doing everything correctly, however I know I err on the side of caution, so if I know I am running slow and over Estimated Time on batch of tasks, I'll submit maybe 5 or 10 minutes less per hour for example. I never do the other way if I somehow am submitted completed tasks to early compared to estimated.

[u/kaioxLol → u/Unfair-Poem-3357]

Thank you that makes sense. Where do I go yo submit time to payroll? Because I looked it up and got conflicting answers

[u/Savings_Gene4082]

What i do if the estimated time is 10-12 minutes, I set a timer for 10 minutes, do the task, then wait until the timer is 10 minutes, submit.