We ask for either work samples or offer the ability to take a take home test. We prefer the former but understand that's not always feasible. If they choose to do the latter we make it clear that it's designed for ~1hr but they can feel free to spend as much or little time as they want. It's not difficult and is really a glorified fizzbuzz, really we're just trying to ascertain if this person can code at all. This is after HR does an initial screen but before one gets into the real engineering group.
I'm a big fan of the work sample method. I have one repo that is polished out and is a good representation of what I am capable of. Most of my code online isn't that nice because I write stuff for fun so making sure I have proper accessibility tags isn't that important.
Now you could debate which is a better representation of my work, the polished dog and pony show repo or the fast and dirty stuff that I push in my ongoing projects.
