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Docking a Non-Exempt Employee
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Docking a Non-Exempt Employee
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Here is the scenario: Our facilities Manager has a hourly maintenance worker that on occasion comes in late (his hours are 8:30 - 4:00 with 30 minutes for lunch). She told me that in her other company
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Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » Docking a Non-Exempt Employee
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Docking a Non-Exempt Employee
posted at 4/13/2010 4:21 AM EDT
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Posts: 12
First: 4/13/2010 Last: 9/16/2010 |
Here is the scenario: Our facilities Manager has a hourly maintenance worker that on occasion comes in late (his hours are 8:30 - 4:00 with 30 minutes for lunch). She told me that in her other company if a hourly employee came in less than 7 minutes late, they would not be docked, but, if they came in 8+ minutes late, they would get docked to the next 15 minutes (ie. if they came in by 8:37 they would get paid as if they came in at 8:30 - but if they came in from 8:38 on, then they would be docked 15 minutes as if they came in at 8:45). My question is - what is the law under this circumstance? can that be done and if so, is there something written we can hand the employee so he knows this is what's going to happen next time he's late?
p.s.I work for a small missionary organization in the state of NY. |
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Docking a Non-Exempt Employee
posted at 4/13/2010 5:19 AM EDT
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Posts: 1103
First: 3/16/2007 Last: 8/19/2011 |
You must pay for all hours actually worked. Rounding is allowed under federal law. However, it does not permit rounding that favors the employer. Instead, it only permits rounding when it either is neutral to the employer or favors the employee.
The regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) actually address the issue in 29 CFR 785.48, which is appropriately titled âUse of time clocks.â Paragraph (b) simply reads: âIt has been found that in some industries, particularly where time clocks are used, there has been the practice for many years of recording the employeesâ starting time and stopping time to the nearest 5 minutes, or to the nearest one-tenth or quarter of an hour. Presumably, this arrangement averages out so that the employees are fully compensated for all the time they actually work. For enforcement purposes this practice of computing working time will be accepted, provided that it is used in such a manner that it will not result, over a period of time, in failure to compensate the employees properly for all the time they have actually worked.â In other words, you can round timecards to the nearest 5, 10, or 15 minute increment. However, the practice should average out over time. For instance, you can not round down in all cases. For a 15-minute increment, employee time from 1 to 7 minutes may be rounded down, and not counted as hours worked. However, time from 8 to 14 minutes must be rounded up and counted as a quarter hour of work time. Here are a few examples. Example: An employeeâs schedule is 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a thirty minute unpaid lunch break. The employee clocks in 10 minutes early every day and clocks out 7 minutes late each day. The employer follows the standard rounding rules. Is the employee entitled to overtime? Yes. If the employer rounds back a quarter hour each morning to 6:45 a.m. and rounds back each evening to 3:30 p.m., the employee will show a total of 41.25 hours worked that workweek. The employee will be entitled to overtime for the 1.25 hours over 40. Note that even if this employer used a 5-minute increment, and rounded the 7 minute departure time down to 5 minutes each day, the employee would be paid the same â an additional 15 minutes per day. Example: An employer only records and pays for time if employees work in full 15 minute increments. An employee paid $10 per hour is scheduled to work 8 hours a day Monday through Friday, for a total of 40 hours a week. The employee always clocks out 12 minutes after the end of her shift. The employee is paid $400 per week. Does this comply with the FLSA? No, the employer has violated the overtime requirements. The employee worked an hour each week (12 minutes times 5) that was not compensated. The employer owes the employee for one hour of overtime each week. |
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