05 Feb Wage Hour Recordkeeping: Are You In Compliance?
One critical component of regulatory compliance is proper recordkeeping. There are over 20 laws that affect employers and every one calls for some form of personnel file maintenance.
Lax Recordkeeping Puts You in Legal Jeopardy
When an employee brings an action against an employer, courts usually rule in favor of the employee if there are inadequate records to validate the employer’s case. This results in situations where an employer is actually in compliance with the provisions of the law but is penalized for simply having dissatisfactory records.
Would Your Records Stand Up To A DOL Audit?
Payroll Partners recommends that employers review their recordkeeping practices frequently to make sure they are in compliance. Most employers keep records of the obvious information—employee name, contact information, hire date—but what about the less obvious data?
Under the FLSA, employers must keep records with the following information for all non-exempt employees:
- Employee’s full name and social security number.
- Address, including zip code.
- Birth date, if younger than 19.
- Gender and occupation.
- Time and day of week when employee’s workweek begins.
- Hours worked daily.
- Total hours worked each workweek.
- Basis on which employee’s wages are paid (Hourly, weekly, piecework, etc.) Regular hourly pay rate.
- Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings.
- Total overtime earnings for the workweek.
- All additions to or deductions from the employee’s wages.
- Total wages paid each pay period.
- Date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment.
Keep For 3 Years:
- Payroll records
- Union contracts
- Sales records
- Purchase records
Keep for 2 Years:
- Time cards and piece work tickets
- Wage rate tables
- Work and time schedules
- Records of additions to or deductions from wages
It’s important to note that business owners must also keep records for staff members who have been terminated. When in doubt, keep the records until you double check the time requirement for all applicable laws.
Are Your Recordkeeping Procedures Adequate?
- Are employee time and attendance records accurate and accessible?
- Are employees paid for all the time worked? (Employers should not require workers to work before and after shifts, or at home off the clock.)
- Does the system accurately calculate PTO?
- Would the data stand up to a labor audit?
- Can employees cheat the system?
Do Employees and Managers Increase or Decrease Your Liability?
- Do employees know how to properly punch in/out for shifts, meals, and breaks?
- Do employees know how to tally time cards?
- Do managers know federal, state, and local labor provisions?
- Do managers know how to verify time cards?
- Do managers know how to approve shift change requests?
- Are managers educated about DOL provisions and company policies regarding overtime?
Do Your Staff Members Keep Records Better Than You Do?
Did you know that the Department of Labor has a time tracking app that anyone (think employee) can download from their site? With this free app, he or she can track their hours automatically and calculate their wages to the minute right on their smartphone. If you are still using paper timesheets and spreadsheet scheduling systems, you might not be tracking data as accurately as a worker with an app designed by the very department that enforces the recordkeeping laws.
Automated Workforce Management Solution
Now is the time to make comprehensive data management a priority. Workforce Management Suite is a powerful but easy-to-use cloud-based solution that automatically captures the documentation required for FLSA compliance. Easily track hours worked, overtime, schedules, job codes, and breaks to meet wage and hour provisions.
Allow staff members to update contact information and manage their own time cards to prevent labor disputes. Automatically store records for verification, and have actionable data to better manage your most expensive asset. Workforce Management Suite paired with one of our biometric time clocks can substantially reduce your risk of being fined for FLSA noncompliance while simultaneously decreasing the time necessary to track employee time and attendance.
UPGRADE TODAY
Payroll Partners offers Workforce Management Suite, the powerful, fully-integrated Workforce Management Suite that makes it easy to optimize the performance of your managers, employees, and business.
Workforce Management Suite includes TimeWorksPlus, TimeSimplicity, and TimeWorks Mobile. Workforce Management Suite is established for busy employers like you who need to streamline scheduling, automate time and attendance tracking, maintain regulatory compliance, and reduce labor costs.
How much can you save? Check our Payroll Partners ROI Calculator.
We can get you up and running with Workforce Management Suite in minutes. Contact us today to set up a demo.