Both state and federal wage laws protect hourly workers. Those paid on an hourly basis have a right to minimum wage and overtime pay if they work long shifts. They also generally have the right to compensation for all of the time they work.
In some cases, employer payroll practices can raise questions about whether they have deprived workers of the pay they deserve. Some companies pay workers in larger increments of time instead of by the minute or second. They may round the time worked each shift when calculating payroll obligations.
Are time-rounding policies legal, or do they violate workers’ wage rights?
Employers must be neutral when rounding
There are rules that apply when employers round time clock records for the purpose of calculating pay. First and foremost, companies typically cannot use increments of time any larger than 15 minutes. Additionally, they must consistently round time both up and down in a neutral manner.
If the company almost always rounds a worker’s time worked down, even when they worked eight minutes out of a 10-minute increment, that is likely a violation of the worker’s wage rights. Professionals who question the time clock practices of their employers may need to maintain records that they can then compare to their pay stubs to validate that their employers have paid them fairly.
In cases where companies round time worked down as a means of withholding pay, workers may have the right to bring a wage and hour claim against their employers. Reviewing pay records with an employment law attorney can help hourly workers recognize violations of their rights and pursue the wages they’ve earned but have not received.
