Many employers engage in time clock rounding in order to make calculating pay owed to their employees easier. While time clock rounding is not illegal in and of itself, this practice can run afoul of the law when employers do not round fairly. Failure to round fairly can result in an employee being under-compensated, which violates the Fair Labor Standards Act. An example of rounding is if an employee clocks in at 8:57 am, the employer rounds up to 9 am, or if an employee clocks out at 5:04 pm, the employer rounds down to 5 pm. Over an extended period, such rounding may result in thousands of dollars of unpaid overtime by not crediting an employee for all time worked.
Rounding is illegal if it benefits only the employer all or most of the time. To be legal, rounding must benefit the employee and the employer approximately equally. Under Department of Labor regulations, the rounding of time clock punches must average out so that, over time, employees are compensated for all the time they work.
If your employer is rounding your time clock punches disproportionately in his/her own favor or you were subjected to illegal rounding practices within the past three years, you may be entitled to compensation. Please call Shavitz Law Group at (561) 447-8888 or email us at [email protected] to learn about your rights.