Exempt - punching a time clock
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50 Posts
HELP
There is a concern that we have exempt people not coming to work on time or maybe not working a minimum of 40 hours.
I have been asked to institute an everyone must punch a time clock policy.
I thought I had learned that we could only ask exempt people to record time if it was to a job for invoicing/billing/tracking of job cost purposes. We are a manufacturing company so there are needs for tracking hours & costs to specific jobs and that is already handled in our manufacturing system.
Can we mandate that all exempt people must punch a time clock?
There is a concern that we have exempt people not coming to work on time or maybe not working a minimum of 40 hours.
I have been asked to institute an everyone must punch a time clock policy.
I thought I had learned that we could only ask exempt people to record time if it was to a job for invoicing/billing/tracking of job cost purposes. We are a manufacturing company so there are needs for tracking hours & costs to specific jobs and that is already handled in our manufacturing system.
Can we mandate that all exempt people must punch a time clock?
Comments
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] An exempt employee has virtually "no rights at all" under the FLSA overtime rules. About all an exempt employee is entitled to under the FLSA is to receive the full amount of the base salary in any work period during which s/he performs any work (less any permissible deductions). Nothing in the FLSA prohibits an employer from requiring exempt employees to "punch a clock," or work a particular schedule, or "make up" time lost due to absences. Nor does the FLSA limit the amount of work time anemployer may require or expect from any employee, on any
schedule. ("Mandatory overtime" is not restricted by the FLSA.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Keep in mind that this discussion is limited to rights underthe FLSA. Exempt employees may have rights under other laws or by way of employment policies or contracts.[/FONT]
[url]http://www.flsa.com/coverage.html[/url]
Based on the above, you can require exempts to punch a clock, just be sure you don't dock their pay.
There is a concern that we have exempt people not coming to work on time or maybe not working a minimum of 40 hours.
I have been asked to institute an everyone must punch a time clock policy.
I thought I had learned that we could only ask exempt people to record time if it was to a job for invoicing/billing/tracking of job cost purposes. We are a manufacturing company so there are needs for tracking hours & costs to specific jobs and that is already handled in our manufacturing system.
Can we mandate that all exempt people must punch a time clock?[/quote]
Even though you can legally do it, sometimes the question you ask is, should you do it?
Many exempt employees view not punching as a benefit of being exempt and requiring them to punch may create a huge employee relations problem for your company. Many exempt employees manage their time to be sure they work a full 40 hours. If they're late in the morning they work over in the evening or take a shorter lunch break. Basically, you're telling all of the exempt employees, including the ones who are not part of the problem, that they can't be trusted. Trust is reciprocal and if the company makes it clear that it doesn't trust them, they will no longer trust the company.
Some of the exempt employees affected by this new policy may even decide that if the company is going to take something away from them, then they will take something away from the company. Productivity can be eroded, loyalty can be diminished, and employee engagement can suffer.
Before I implemented this change in policy, I'd look at a couple of things. For example, is this problem company-wide or confined to one or two departments? If the problem is confined to a few areas, I'd look to those Supervisors for a solution. They are responsible for making sure their exempt employees are coming to work on time and should be handing those that consistently don't through your disciplinary process. If they're not, then they should be held accountable.
Making this kind of policy change is a bit like punishing all the second graders because a few of the kids are chewing gum in class. Silly, I know, but something to think about.
Sharon
If you have one or more employees who are getting their work done and still manage to come in late and/or leave early AND this is not a temporary situation, then you need to look at their job description and see if their duties should be changed. There is no point in hanging around when there is no work to do and you are exempt.
I would be very reluctant to implement a time punching policy for exempt employees. Keeping project hours is one thing, punching a clock is another. You are likely to get much more than you bargained for if you go down that lane.
Good luck!
Nae