Incorrect time sheets

yankee49

We have an hourly employee that consistently fills out his time sheet 7:00 - 3:30. He generally leaves around 2:15 or 2:30. I have spoken to my boss, HR Manager, and she suggested I write down the time he actually leaves and she said she will talk to him. (Although I have a /Supvervisor in my title, it is in name only and I am not allowed to discuss this issue with him.) I have attached a note to his his last 9 timesheets (indicating the time he left) and turned them in to her and the corrections don't make it to Payroll. His timesheets are signed by HR Manager as he fills them out he is paid for whatever number of hours he lists.

Our company has lost another account and all our hourly employees have taken a hit in the pocketbook with fewer hours worked. We are facing another downsizing in about two weeks. It galls me that he is being paid for time not worked. He is not a super employee and many of our employees wait until I am in the office so they don't have to deal with him. Yes, he is in the Human Resources Dept.!

Do I stop hitting my head against the wall or is there some legal info I can use the next time I talk to my boss?

LindaS

If you have a company policy that addresses falsification of timesheets you can point that out to your boss. At some point someone higher up than your boss is going to get wind of this so I would suggest that you keep copies of the information you have provided as well as when you talked to your boss about it, just to be sure you have covered yourself in case the blame funnels down to you.

I once ran into this situation with a former employer (the employee in question was NOT in the HR dept.) and when I brought the problem to the attention of my boss, instead of terminating the offending employee they promptly decided to make him exempt - WITH A NICE PAY INCREASE to accomodate the "OT" he worked (or should I say the OT he WROTE DOWN he worked).

I know how frustrating it can be and you can be sure other employees are aware of the situation as well. Hopefully your boss decides to do something before someone decides to go over their head and report it.

yankee49

Linda, thanks for the advice. We do have a policy concerning falsification of time sheets and I have brought that to her attention. She just seems intent on ignoring the problem. Others in the office are aware that he leaves early and have made comments to me about it. Beleive me, I am doucmenting dates, times and conversations with my boss.

clarkbar

Be careful of making someone exempt just for this reason. You must follow the guidelines of the FLSA for their position to change someone from non-exempt to exempt.

LindaS

Clarkbar - I totally agree with your statement. I forgot to mention that my former boss (who made the decision to switch the employee) knew the FLSA laws just didn't feel they applied to that company.

NCBANKER

I fail to see this as a major issue.

Go invest in a wall punch-card time keeper. The over-payment of hours not worked will probably pay for itself in one pay period. Have them transfer the hours on the punch card to your payroll time sheet, and staple the punch card to the back for verification. If the entering of time is electronic over the computer, then just simply create a file at the office. These cards are very small.

No way would I allow employees to just simply "write down the time" without another form of backup to prove when they did or did not arrive. If they forget to punch the clock, have them write in the time and a supervisor initial the change.