FLSA Question

Melanie · May 2003

I understand that exemption means that you pay staff their set salary regardless of the number of hours they work each day/week. You can't deduct their pay and you don't pay overtime, etc.

Here's the dilemma: We have an automated time clock system that records in/out punches. We are looking to implement a form that requires staff to fill out the reason they missed a punch and what the correct time punch should be. I believe that only the non-exempt staff should fill out the form explaining the reason for the missing punch, because I fear that if we had the exempt staff fill out the form that it could appear to be tracking their hours which is a violation of FLSA exemption. The executive team here believes that the exempt staff should fill out the form as well as the non-exempt staff, and they feel like as long as we continue to pay their set salary and not deduct or pay overtime based on their punches, asking them to fill out their time punches and the reason they missed their punch is not a violation of the FLSA rules.

Any suggestions?

bamahr · May 2003

Are the exempt employee required to clock-in/out?

Melanie · May 2003

Yes, our exempt employees are required to clock in and out. I just don't think that if they happen to miss one punch in the day, they should be required to fill out another form. We know that we are required to pay them 8 hours anyway, and they fill out enough paperwork anyhow, why burden them with more paperwork. The executive team seems to think that it helps them be the role model, if they do it, their team will be less likely to gripe if they know their supervisor also has to fill out the form.

DeidreFR5 · May 2003

I have another related angle. Doesn't OSHA require you know what employees are working at any given time? I use to be the safety officer at a previous employer and remember discussion in this area. I think it came about after Oklahoma City and concerned employers actually knowing how many employees may be in a site in case of a disaster. Does anyone remember this?

Don D · May 2003

Melanie: We've had this question lots of times. The tracking of time and requiring exempts to explain their absences is NOT a violation of FLSA. If an investigation reveals that you are tracking time as part of a docking system for exempts, then you MAY lose some exemptions. There are legitimate reasons to track exempts time and you may do this by whatever method the company chooses. You may also ask people where they were when they appeared not to be at work. You need to know if they were on FMLA, sick leave, vacation leave, etc.

Filling out a form seems a bit anal. I would prefer the supervisor of the employees keep mental and pencil notes if people go missing for periods of time and deal with that as a discipline issue. What you may have is yet another example of executive management having not a clue, and wanting none, about exemptions and what that means regarding guaranteed salaries and work weeks.

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