How a single blank week in a timecard app still carries weight in December 2025.
Key Takeaways
Main points at a glance
- The article looks at one empty week in a digital timecard, labelled with the Dutch word “leegloop” and showing no hours.
- Leegloop describes a period with no work for a worker who still has a contract and fixed hours.
- A past week, such as one in November 2025, can stay open in the system in December 2025 and still matter for pay and rights.
- Timesheets and timecards turn working time into pay; if a week remains blank or unreported, the real story of that time is not complete.
- Simple routines, kind self-talk, clear words and basic tools help workers live with quiet weeks, unfinished admin and uncertain hours.
Story & Details
A quiet line on a bright screen
In December 2025, a worker opens a timekeeping app from a Dutch temporary employment agency. The screen is small and simple. A heading shows a list of timecards. Only one line appears. It is a past week in November 2025, marked as “week 46”. The date range for that week is written clearly as 10 to 16 November 2025, a period that has already finished.
The line has a short title: “Leegloop”. In the place where total hours would normally appear, there is only a small sign that means no hours are recorded at all. On the side there is a button that invites the worker to open or report this silent week. There are no client names, no numbers, no comments. Just one past week, still sitting there in the present.
What leegloop means in Dutch working life
Dutch employment explainers use leegloop for a very specific situation. They use sentences such as:
“We spreken over leegloop als er tijdelijk geen werk is voor een uitzendkracht met een overeenkomst met vaste uren.”
“Tijdens de leegloop blijft de flexwerker beschikbaar voor passend werk.”
These lines describe a temporary gap. There is no work for now, but there is still a contract based on a fixed number of hours. The worker remains available for suitable work, and the organisation must look for that work.
Word by word, the first Dutch sentence can be read like this:
- “We” – “we”, the people who speak.
- “spreken” – “speak”, in the present tense.
- “over leegloop” – “about leegloop”, the subject of the sentence.
- “als” – “when” or “if”.
- “er tijdelijk geen werk is” – “there is temporarily no work”.
- “voor een uitzendkracht” – “for a temporary agency worker”.
- “met een overeenkomst” – “with an agreement” or “with a contract”.
- “met vaste uren” – “with fixed hours”.
The second sentence works in a similar way:
- “Tijdens de leegloop” – “during the leegloop”, during that empty period.
- “blijft de flexwerker” – “the flexible worker remains”.
- “beschikbaar” – “available”.
- “voor passend werk” – “for suitable work”.
The tone is calm and neutral. It sounds like normal work language, not like a courtroom. Together these sentences show leegloop as a recognised part of flexible work: a pause between assignments, not a full break in the relationship.
In many Dutch contracts for temporary work in the Netherlands (Europe), leegloop appears when there is no “no-work-no-pay” clause and there is a duty to continue payment for a fixed number of hours. Even when there is no assignment for a while, the worker may still be entitled to income for those guaranteed hours, and the company must try to offer suitable work during the gap.
Timesheets, timecards, and one empty week
Public guides on working time describe a timesheet as a simple record of hours worked in a set period. It can be a paper sheet, a spreadsheet or an online form, but the purpose is always the same: to show when and how long someone worked, so that pay, invoices and project plans are correct.
A timecard in a digital app is one special form of a timesheet. Each week appears as a small block. The worker normally taps on a week, enters hours for each day, and then submits the week for approval. Once the week is approved, it moves out of the “open” view and into the completed history.
The leegloop week in November 2025 breaks this usual flow. The week is still visible in December 2025, but there are no hours. The app cannot know if that means there was truly no work or if someone simply did not enter the hours. For the worker, the difference is huge. If there was leegloop under a fixed-hours contract, the week may still carry a right to pay. If there was work that is missing from the screen, a blank line hides hours that should be recognised and paid.
The small report button next to the leegloop week suddenly looks important. It is the door between a quiet line of data and a clear story. When the worker taps it, there may be a choice: confirm that there were no hours, fill in late hours that were worked, or ask a staff member at a Dutch temporary employment agency what to do with this kind of week in this specific system.
Routines and feelings around the screen
The leegloop week does not exist alone in a vacuum. It sits inside a very human life, with sleep, worries, meals and small tasks. Some workers who handle irregular hours and gaps create careful routines to keep stress down. There can be an early bedtime at 19:00 local time in the Netherlands (Europe) and a wake-up time at 02:00 local time in the Netherlands (Europe), so that quiet hours at night are free for slow tasks like checking timecards. Other people prefer a more usual daytime rhythm, but still set one fixed moment each week to open the app and review every week on the list.
Daily planning can also be very gentle. One simple method is called “three red things”: choose two or three true priorities for the day and see everything else as extra. If those few tasks are done, the day counts as a success. On heavy days, the first actions become even smaller and more physical. Use the bathroom. Throw away food that is no longer good. Prepare something easy to eat. Drink water. These steps are not dramatic, but they bring the body back into motion. Once that happens, it is easier to look at a quiet screen without fear.
Life around the timecard is full of modest but important jobs. A worker may need to ask for a blank timesheet template to complete several missing weeks that were never filled in. There might be a note to download a flight ticket, store it as a PDF and send it on to someone who keeps travel documents in order. At home, a bed frame might need to be levelled after being slightly uneven for a long time. In the background, there is a wider map of towns and countries, not as a secret code to identity but simply as part of the world in which empty weeks and full weeks both happen.
All of these details live next to leegloop. They show that a worker who sees “Total: –” on a screen is not a number in a system but a person moving through days and nights, sometimes strong, sometimes tired, always trying to keep both work and home steady.
Words and tools that make the gap easier to see
Small language choices help. In the kitchen, many people like clear names for everyday objects. A folding tray for drying plates and cups can be called a collapsible dish rack. The word is simple and descriptive. It says what the object does and what shape it has when it is folded away. This love of clean words also appears in the choice of leegloop as a label. Instead of a long phrase like “no shifts this week”, there is one short word that everyone in that work world understands.
For people who are learning or using Dutch at work, seeing leegloop inside real sentences makes it less abstract. The mini-lesson above shows how each part of the sentence works: who is speaking, what the verb is, how time (“temporarily”), work (“no work”), and the contract with fixed hours all fit together. The structure is clear enough that the worker can reuse it when talking or writing about their own situation.
Digital tools add another layer of support. Articles from software and payroll providers explain what timesheets are, why they matter, and how they help both workers and organisations keep track of hours. They describe how weekly records feed into pay, how missing entries can cause mistakes, and how simple designs make it easier to submit time on schedule.
A short video from Eastern Michigan University in the United States (North America) gives a very practical example. It shows how a student employee opens an online timesheet, checks the days and hours, corrects any errors, and submits the record for approval. The details of the system are different, but the key message is the same: do not let the week stay half-finished in the system.
In this mix of language, tools and habits, the leegloop week on the timecard screen is no longer just a puzzling label. It becomes a clear sign of a temporary pause, a reminder to check what really happened that week, and a chance to make sure the gap is handled fairly for everyone involved.
Conclusions
A soft landing for a hard concept
Leegloop is a short word, but it opens a wide picture. It shows a worker with a contract and fixed hours, standing still for a moment in a system that normally moves from shift to shift and week to week. On a timecard screen, this moment becomes a single empty line with a label and no hours.
That line can stay there in December 2025, long after the November days are over. It may represent a true period with no work, or it may hide hours that have not yet been set down. It can stand for rights to pay that still exist even when there is no assignment. Because of this, even one blank week deserves a calm look.
Timesheets and timecards do not need to feel cold or frightening. With clear words like leegloop, with a few simple Dutch example sentences, with honest guides and one good video showing how to submit a week of time, the tools start to feel more friendly. When these tools are combined with gentle daily routines, small home tasks and kind self-reminders, the person behind the screen is better able to face that quiet week and decide what to do next.
In the end, the empty week is part of the real story of work. It is a pause, not a void. Giving it a name, a place in the record, and a little human care makes the gap easier to live with.
Selected References
Further reading on leegloop and timesheets
[1] JEX. “Wat betekent leegloop?” Dutch explainer on leegloop as a temporary period without work for a temporary agency worker with an agreement based on fixed hours and a duty to continue pay. https://www.jex.nl/kennisbank/wat-betekent-leegloop
[2] Flexpedia. “Leegloop bij uitzenden; wat is het en wat zijn de risico’s.” Dutch article describing leegloop for agency workers with fixed-hour contracts and payment obligations. https://www.flexpedia.nl/kennis/uitzenden/leegloop/
[3] Easyflex. “Overzicht – Leegloop.” Handbook page defining leegloop for flexible workers with fixed-hour contracts and showing how leegloop is displayed in a management system. https://handboek.easyflex.net/handboek/latest/overzicht-leegloop
[4] Zoho. “What is a Timesheet?” Overview of timesheets as tools for recording hours worked and linking them to pay and projects. https://www.zoho.com/invoice/what-is-a-timesheet/
[5] Toggl. “What Is a Timesheet? Definition, Uses, & Benefits.” Article explaining the purpose of timesheets and how they fit into modern time and project management. https://toggl.com/blog/what-is-a-timesheet
[6] Eastern Michigan University. “Submitting Timesheets: A Step-by-step Guide to Submitting Your Student Employee Timesheet at EMU.” YouTube video from an institutional channel showing how to review and submit a digital timesheet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3Z9TENaFKg
[7] Juridisch Loket. “Uw rechten als er geen werk voor u is.” Dutch legal information on rights when there is temporarily no work, including duties related to pay and suitable work. https://www.juridischloket.nl/werk-en-inkomen/arbeidsvoorwaarden/rechten-uitzendkracht/
[8] Juntrax. “Timesheet Management: Why is it Important?” Article on why correct timesheet management matters for both workers and organisations. https://juntrax.com/blog/why-is-timesheet-management-important/
Appendix
Key terms in this story, from A to Z
Calendar week
A calendar week is a seven-day block in the year, often numbered for planning. In this story, a calendar week in November 2025 appears as a single line in a timecard app with a label and a date range.
Collapsible dish rack
A collapsible dish rack is a folding kitchen rack used to hold plates, cups and cutlery while they dry after washing. It can be folded down when it is not needed so that it takes up less space and helps keep the work surface neat.
Dutch example sentences
Dutch example sentences such as “We spreken over leegloop als er tijdelijk geen werk is voor een uitzendkracht met een overeenkomst met vaste uren” and “Tijdens de leegloop blijft de flexwerker beschikbaar voor passend werk” show how leegloop appears in everyday work language and how each part of the sentence points to a temporary lack of work, a fixed-hours contract and a worker who stays available.
Idle week
An idle week is a week in a timekeeping system in which no hours are recorded. It can be a true period without work, a week of leegloop under a fixed-hours contract, or simply a week that has not yet been filled in or confirmed.
Leegloop
Leegloop is a Dutch employment term for a temporary period when a flexible worker with a contract based on a fixed number of hours has no assignment, while the contract continues and there is usually a duty to offer suitable work and to continue paying the agreed hours.
Planning method “three red things”
The planning method “three red things” is an informal way to organise a day by choosing two or three important tasks and treating everything else as extra, so that the day can feel complete once those few tasks are done.
Timecard screen
A timecard screen is a digital view, often on a phone or computer, that lists weeks or other periods of work and shows labels, dates and total hours, and allows a worker to open a week, enter time and send the data for approval.
Timesheet
A timesheet is a document or digital record that tracks the hours a person works over a given period and links those hours to pay, projects and tasks so that wages and records match the time actually spent working.
My Diary - Leonardo Cardillo 