THE law requires employers to maintain “payroll records showing the hours worked daily by and the wages paid to employees.” Employers must keep accurate information showing when the employee begins and ends each work period. The records must also show meal periods, split shift intervals, and total hours worked. Work schedules posted in advance cannot be used to compute the employee’s work hours.
If the employee feels that the employer is not keeping proper time, or is uncertain as to whether he or she is paid correctly based on the employer’s time records, the employee may keep a personal diary of his or her hours worked. In fact, the US Department of Labor (DOL) encourages employees to do just this.
In May of this year, the DOL launched an application for smartphones (commonly called an app), providing employees with a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed. By downloading the app to their smarthphones, employees can track regular work hours, break time and any overtime hours that they worked for one or more employers.
Through the app, users will also be able to add comments on any information related to their work hours (for example, why they had to work overtime or why they were not provided a lunch break). They can also view a summary of work hours in a daily, weekly and monthly format or email the summary of work hours and gross pay as an attachment.
In its press release, the DOL noted that this new technology is significant because, instead of relying on their employers’ records, workers now can keep their own records. Said the Secretary of Labor, “I am pleased that my department is able to leverage increasingly popular and available technology to ensure that workers receive the wages to which they are entitled. This app will help empower workers to understand and stand up for their rights when employers have denied their hard-earned pay.”
If an employer failed to maintain accurate employment records, information tracked by the app could prove invaluable when employees file a claim for additional compensation for hours worked, for unpaid overtime or for payment for meal or rest breaks that were not provided.
The free app is currently compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch in both English and Spanish versions. The Labor Department will explore updates that could enable similar versions for other smartphone platforms, such as Android and BlackBerry. It may later develop other pay features not currently provided for, such as tips, commissions, bonuses, deductions, holiday pay, pay for weekends, shift differentials and pay for regular days of rest.
For workers without a smartphone, the Wage and Hour Division home Web page at http://www.dol.gov/whd has a printable work hours calendar in English and Spanish to track rate of pay, work start and stop times, and arrival and departure times. The calendar also includes easy-to-understand information about workers’ rights.
Determining the amounts due, however, is not enough. If you are owed additional wages, it is smart to consult with an experienced employment attorney to determine the methods by which these wages can be recovered.
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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully obtained significant results, including several million dollar recoveries for consumers against insurance companies and big business. He is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum—a prestigious group of trial lawyers whose membership is limited to those who have demonstrated exceptional skill, experience and excellence in advocacy. He has been featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements for his professional accomplishments and recipient of numerous awards from community and media organizations. His litigation practice concentrates in the following areas: serious personal injuries, wrongful death, insurance claims, unfair business practices, wage and hour (overtime) litigation. You can visit his website at www.joesayas law.com or contact his office by telephone at (818) 291-0088.
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