Clocking out for breaks

Frenchie

I just discovered that some associates have clocked out for breaks (she was making a personal call and didn't feel it would be right to be on the clock)or clocking out for lunch, but then just taking 15 or 20 minutes. I have stopped the practice. Do we need to audit our time cards, and pay for all of that time? If so, how far back do we have to go?

System

You absolutely need to go over your time clock procedures with your staff. If you're not the supervisor, the supervisor needs to know the procedure. We audited our time sheets for 20 employees for a period back of two years. It took about 1/2 day to find all errors. We put them on a spreadsheet and calculated the correct pay. That took another half day. We are paid bi-weekly so it only involved 26 pays per year. I'm not sure how long it would take you to go back for your employees. I'm not sure what the DOL would expect. They'll mainly be concerned that you are rectifying the problem and that you were not making a willful violation of wage and hour laws.

Sorry this isn't much help, but it may give you some insight on how you should proceed.

tjp

As for the breaks, they are not a requirement so you're not required to pay for the time that the employee is punched out. I presume your company offers the breaks as policy.
As for the lunch, it is a different story. If your employee is not taking the required 30 minutes on the time clock, you're in violation. I would check with YOUR attorney and check for time clock violations every week to ensure compliance.