Working at SpaceX: timesheets / time cards?

[Nerdymobile]

I understand that most (if not all all) of SpaceX's work for the USG is via commercial pricing, and presumably on a firm-fixed price basis. However, with the push towards more Space Force missions (Space Development Agency's tracking layer, broader Starshield announcements), I'm curious to understand how they execute DCAA compliance.

For the unfamiliar, https://www.dcaa.mil/ is the government's cost compliance organization, charged with determining and auditing the accuracy of fees charged to the government, with a particular focus on labor accounting.

Specifically, do SpaceX employees fill out time sheets? Seems with the work hours I've heard (60-80 hr workweeks), it could quickly lead to issues with labor lawsuits, etc. If they don't use time cards, how do they deal with audits from the USG / DCAA?

Not doing timesheets is a major plus for most engineers - they're a huge pain. Allowing people to do work that helps the US advance its position in space without having to complete timesheets and have every 15 min increment of every day accounted for would give it a pretty big edge over nearly every other aerospace prime contractor in the US (as if it didn't already have that).

[Coastal Ron]

I understand that most (all) of SpaceX's work for the USG is via commercial pricing, but with the push towards more Space Force missions (SDA tracking layer, etc), I'm curious to understand how they work DCAA compliance.

Specifically, do SpaceX employees fill out time sheets? Seems with the work hours I've heard (60-80 hr workweeks), it could quickly lead to issues with labor lawsuits, etc. If they don't use time cards, how do they deal with audits from the USG / DCAA?

Not doing timesheets is a major plus for most engineers - they're a huge pain.

I have no insight into what SpaceX does, but if they have a contract with the U.S. Government where they are getting paid for time spent working on a contract, they would need to document that employee time spent on that contract. Such a contract is typically a "Cost Plus" contract.

But, for example, the Commercial Crew and Human Landing System contracts have been "Firm Fixed Price", so for those SpaceX is paid for what they accomplish, not what they spend, and there would not be a need to keep track of time spent just for those contracts.

That said, SpaceX might use some form of labor tracking for internal needs.

[dragon44]

I worked at SpaceX from 2009-2019 doing software and operations. I never filled out a timesheet. But things may have changed.