Proper Employee Time Recording
The Labor Department posts record breaking enforcement totals for 2003 according to a recent report. Particularly notable was the $212 million in back wages for workers collected from employers. This represents a 21 percent increase over the prior fiscal year. More than 300,000 workers benefited from the Department's enforcement efforts.
These enforcement actions were brought by the Department's Wage and Hour Division, the agency responsible for enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA is the federal wage hour law that defines minimum wage, time recording, child labor and overtime pay requirements for protected employees.
Certain employees may be categorized as exempt if they are performing work that is defined as executive, professional, administrative or outside sales. Detailed regulations define these exempted categories.
The FLSA requires employers to maintain a true and accurate record of hours worked by their covered employees. The law does not specify what time recording method must be used by an employer and employers are free to select a method for keeping employee time records.
A common practice in many businesses is to have employees insert a time card into a punch clock recording starting and quitting times. Some firms prefer to have employees manually record time on a time slip that is turned in at the end of the pay period.
More recently, growing numbers of firms are using computerized or electronic systems to record employee time. A plastic card with magnetic strip, similar to a credit card, is issued to each employee with instructions to "swipe in" and "swipe out" each day. Also, employee desktop computer systems can be set up for entering of time records.
Many employers experience difficulty in dealing with the time recording issues that are required under this law. Some common problems are described below.
Time Recording
The employee is expected to clock in by or before scheduled start time. Clocking in late is considered tardy. The employee should be paid for time actually worked; this means that an hourly paid employee may be "docked" for time lost due to tardiness.
A five to ten minute time "window"is permitted as a clock in and clock out time period at the start and end of work. These few minutes are considered to be de minimus or of minimal value and need not be totaled as compensable time.
When an employee arrives to work early and clocks in, or stays at work and clocks out late, such actions may be viewed as evidence of overtime work. To prevent unauthorized overtime work, the employer needs to clearly define employee work schedules, monitor time recording, permit overtime work as authorized, and instruct or discipline employees for falsification of records or failure to follow time reporting procedures.
Accurate time records for hourly paid employees document time worked, justify the FLSA requirement of providing overtime pay for time worked over 40 hours in a week, and help to keep the employer out of the Labor Department's enforcement statistics.
About the Author . . .
. . . William S. Hubbartt is president of Hubbartt & Associates, a St. Charles, IL consulting firm specializing in employee compensation, employee handbooks, personnel policies and supervisory training. (www.Hubbartt.com) Mr. Hubbartt is author "The Medical Privacy Rule - A Guide for Employers and Health Care Providers."
