Employees who work long shifts, whole weeks without days off or more than 40 hours per week may have a right to overtime pay. Federal overtime rules and California’s unique pay regulations determine what obligations employers have to hourly and non-exempt salaried workers.
Companies sometimes use creative tactics to minimize staffing expenses. Time clock rounding, or the practice of paying workers for five, 10 or 15 minutes of time worked, is somewhat common.
Can employers round workers’ time clock records to avoid overtime pay obligations?
Time clock rounding isn’t permissible in California
The state supreme court has ruled more than once on cases where employers do not pay workers for all time worked. The courts have consistently upheld the right to pay for all time worked. The de minimis rule that applies at the federal level does not apply in California. Therefore, employers generally cannot use time clock rounding practices as a means of diminishing worker wages.
Even in states where time clock rounding is technically lawful, companies have to apply rounding rules neutrally. The company cannot consistently round down to reduce wages but must instead round as appropriate given the time that the worker clocked in and out for a shift. In scenarios where employers have modified a worker’s start and end times or reduced the total amount of time worked to bypass overtime wage rules, the employees affected may have grounds to take legal action.
Reviewing time worked and the amount paid for that time with a skilled legal team could help employees determine if companies have violated their rights. Wage and hour lawsuits can compensate workers for the time they already worked and may convince employers to modify their employment practices to better conform to state regulations.