Can My Employer Change My Time Card
Payday is coming up, and you're in the process of reviewing your employees' timecards. You lot observe what seems to be an error on one of the records. Y'all decide to modify the timecard information to reflect what you believe it should exist.
Only are you legally allowed to change employees' timecard information?
Short respond: While y'all tin legally change employees' timecard information, there are some critical exceptions to consider.
What federal law says about changing employees' timecards
Employers tin can alter employees' timecards — and then long as the adjustment correctly depicts the hours that the employees actually worked.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to keep specific records for each nonexempt employee — including full hours worked each workday and each workweek. The employer is responsible for non just maintaining records of employees' hours worked, simply also paying all hours worked. Therefore, employers tin can change employees' timecards — and then long as the adjustment correctly depicts the hours that the employees really worked.
Every bit the employee's boss, you're responsible for reviewing their submitted weekly timecard. You should ensure that the data is correct before approving and sending the timecard over to payroll for processing. This is truthful, regardless of whether you utilize a paper timekeeping system, an electronic method (such every bit electronic mail), or an automatic deject-based platform.
When can yous change employees' timecards?
Examples of when you can edit employees' timecards include the post-obit scenarios.
The employee:
- Forgot to put their offset or end time on their timesheet, or forgot to punch in or out on the timeclock. You can make full in the missing entries or punches.
- Failed to clock in or out during their intermission or lunch menstruum. You can fill in the break and luncheon times taken.
- Called in sick or took vacation time. Yous can accommodate the timecard to reflect the sick or holiday time.
- Took ½ day off from work for personal reasons. You tin can fill in the paid or unpaid personal time off.
- Wasn't able to access the timekeeping system due to technical issues. Y'all can fill in the missing punches.
- Double-punched the timeclock. Yous can remove the extra punch.
- Wrote the wrong amount of hours on their timesheet. You can set the record direct.
When in dubiousness, contact the employee to verify their timecard information before you make the change. For example, if an employee fails to clock in or out, you might not recall their exact inflow or departure times — which is why yous should cheque with them first, instead of guessing. Likewise, check the employee's paid time off balance earlier making timecard edits for PTO.
After editing an employee's timecard, send the updated data to the employee earlier approving information technology for payroll processing. This mode, you and the employee can resolve any bug in advance.
When tin't you change employees' timecards?
It is illegal to intentionally falsify an employee's timecard.
The FLSA makes clear that employers must pay nonexempt employees for all hours worked. Therefore, information technology is illegal to intentionally falsify an employee's timecard.
For example, you cannot modify a nonexempt employee's work hours from 48 hours to 40 hours because y'all do not want to pay them overtime. If the employee worked 48 hours then they must be paid for forty hours at their regular rate and 8 hours at their overtime rate.
You also cannot alter employees' timecards:
- As a form of penalty (e.one thousand., by reducing hours worked)
- To avoid paying for authorized breaks
In curt, any timecard manipulation that causes the employee to be shortchanged is unlawful.
Tin you change remote employees' timecards?
Every bit with onsite employees, yous can modify remote employees' timecards, provided the change does not cause the employee to be underpaid.
Timekeeping for remote employees can be challenging due to the distance involved. Although utilizing a cloud-based timekeeping organization makes information technology easier to runway remote work hours, there'due south still the potential for missing or erroneous timecard entries. There'due south also the chance of remote employees performing unauthorized piece of work.
As stated earlier, employers are ultimately responsible for maintaining records of hours worked. However, in Baronial 2020, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued a message, clarifying time tracking for remote employees.
The message says that the onus is on the employer to forestall "work when it is not desired" and that merely developing a rule prohibiting unauthorized piece of work is not sufficient. "Management has the power to enforce the dominion and must brand every endeavor to do and so." That said, the employer is under no obligation to compensate remote employees for unreported work hours "that the employer did not know about, nor had reason to believe was beingness performed."
According to the DOL, remote employees are responsible for tracking their hours worked and so long as they receive the tools to do so. This means the employer must institute a reasonable reporting system that remote employees can use to report both scheduled and unscheduled fourth dimension worked.
Remote employees are responsible for tracking their hours worked then long as they receive the tools to practice so.
What are the penalties of falsifying employees' timecards?
Employers tin can face serious consequences for illegally altering employees' timecards. Consequences may include:
- Wage and hour complaints or lawsuits
- Payment of dorsum wages
- Amercement
- Attorney fees
- Criminal or civil penalties under federal and state laws
Several investigations have resulted in the employer facing liability for falsifying employees' timecards. For example, in the example of Santonias Bailey v. TitleMax of Georgia, the plaintiff (Bailey) sued his employer (TitleMax) for unpaid overtime. Bailey's supervisor also repeatedly changed Bailey's timecards to reverberate fewer hours than he worked.
The Court of Appeals held that Bailey " was not paid because his time records were non accurate. They reflected an artificially low number of hours worked. This inaccuracy came from 2 sources: starting time, Mr. Bailey underreported his own hours by working off the clock. Second, Mr. Bailey'south supervisor changed his time records to decrease the number of hours he reported."
The court deferred to the FLSA — which says that if the employer knew or had reason to believe that the employee worked the unreported hours, then the employer must pay the unreported hours.
In the end, falsifying an employee's timecard is just non worth it.
If you're looking for an automated, deject-based platform for employee fourth dimension and scheduling, check out Zenefits — which you can apply to track time for employees, contractors, and freelancers.
Bookmark(1)
Please login to bookmark
No account yet? Register
Source: https://www.zenefits.com/workest/the-legalities-of-changing-employees-timecards/
Posted by: padgettmilesse.blogspot.com
0 Response to "Can My Employer Change My Time Card"
Post a Comment