Efficient Employee Time Tracking for Legal Compliance

Employee time tracking (including time tracking for lawyers) is vital for every employer. There must be a medium (such as attendance tracker, timesheets or time tracker) to track the number of hours worked by each hourly employee so that each of them is paid accurately for the hours they have logged in.   

Is Employee Time Tracking Required by Any Law?

Yes, employee time tracking is a part of record-keeping requirements under FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) and many states’ laws.

As per FLSA – a federal law, employers must have accurate records of each hourly employee with detail of their number of hours worked per day and per workweek, date and time when the workweek began, hourly pay rate, regular earnings, overtime hours worked, and overtime earnings. It is also required for the employers to keep three years record of each employee’s working hours as per the same law.  

Why Is Employee Time Tracking Necessary for an Employer?

Under federal law, hourly employees who work beyond 40 hours per workweek must receive overtime pay for the extended working hours. Many state laws calculate the overtime pay as one and half times their regular hourly pay rate.

Whenever employees claim for their overtime pay, employers can easily scan through their records and analyze whether or not that employee has worked overtime. If employers lack a complete and accurate record, then they cannot prove if the employee has actually been overworked for the hours claimed. In this scenario, employers can be liable for the overtime pay and additional penalties by the court.  

Hence, record-keeping of employee time tracking protects the employer against any overtime pay claims.  

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Types of Employees

There are two types of employees – exempt employees and nonexempt employees. The key difference between them is the pay for working overtime.

Exempt, as the term suggests, is not liable for being paid overtime while nonexempt is liable for being paid extra hours they worked beyond their working hours. So, what makes an employee exempt or nonexempt? Let’s find out!

Exempt Employees

Employees who are paid on a salary basis (for any week they work) or who are paid at least $445 per week are considered exempt employees.

Exempt employees are not authorized for overtime pay as enforced provisions of FLSA. Employees who fall under executive, administrative, and professional (including STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) categories are exempt employees who are paid minimum wages per week.

In order to become qualified exempt, employees must undergo certain employment tests. If they meet the requirements in the test, they’ll be entitled as exempt employees and shall not be eligible for extra payment for the work they perform over a normal workweek.

However, in some states where an employee is subject to both federal and state laws, overtime pay is considered according to the standard. Some employers may consider paying exempt employees additional compensation in the form of bonuses or straight pay for extra hours they work, but all these should remain compliant with related laws.  

Though exempt employees are not eligible for overtime pay, an employer should not stop tracking their time. Time tracking at work is vital for all businesses to analyze their growth and determine which employee is working their best to impact the company’s ROI. Overall, it’s a healthy habit to incorporate a better working environment.  

Nonexempt Employees

Employees who work on an hourly basis and are paid a minimum hourly rate with eligibility to overtime pay for extra hours beyond their normal working hour (which is 40 hours per week) in any workweek are characterized as nonexempt employees. According to state and federal law, the overtime pay is calculated as one and half times their regular hourly rate.

DCAA Compliance and Time Tracking

Time tracking is highly concerned with DCAA compliance (Defense Contract Audit Agency). It applies when working with government organizations (contracts), you need to make sure you and your employees are following DCAA requirements.

For every company, the DCAA expects to follow the given guidelines for time tracking:

• Every employee must track his/her own time on a daily basis. Daily time entries are vital for this.
• Every employee must record all the working hours whether they worked overtime, paid, or unpaid.
• There should be proper timesheets with allocated hours and people for each project.
• There should be evidence that all employees know the rules of time tracking. DCAA recommends staff meetings, orientations, and signage for this.

It is essential to keep all the records because DCAA has the power to do floor checks where the government can examine if your employees are actually at work and if they know the overall procedure and if there is proper tracking of their time and work.

Conclusion

One of the easiest ways to keep up with all the laws and requirements is by using accurate time tracking software like Everhour. Everhour will help you provide an accurate audit log of all your records including employee time data using the employee time clock app so that you can easily determine the overtime hours and pay your employees to avoid any penalties or claims.

If you haven’t been tracking your employees’ time yet, then it’s high time to proceed!

Disclaimer: This article has no legal force and all materials are taken from public sources.