Is it legal for hourly employees to enter just the hours worked or do they have to punch in/out on timceards?

Question

The company I am working for right now is implementing a new time management system for hourly employees. I am wondering about the legality around this. Do we have to capture punch in and punch out times or is it sufficient to just capture hours worked and pay them accordingly? The new time management system does have the ability to record punch in/punch out, but I am wondering if our contingency plan (simple web based form for inputting hours worked) is legally sound.
Thanks

Thank you for your quick response Adam. Could you forward me to the section of the CA Labor code that mentions this, if you know where it is? The concern one manager had was around the mandatory 1/2 hour of lunch. If employees just report hours, how do we account for the lunch hour?

Thanks again

Answer 1

You are required to pay employees for their hours worked - the method of collecting that information is up to the employer.

It is perfectly legal to have employees self-report hours without 'punching a clock'. Keep in mind that if you ever have a pay dispute with an employee, the burden of proof is heavily on the side of the employer. This is why many companies use a punch-clock.

Answer 2

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&group=00001-01000&file=200-243
This is the section of the labor code that has to do with the payment of wages. It is indeed legal for employers to use any collection method (self-entry, timeclock punches, or recording hours on a spreadsheet); however, your employees must also record their lunch times. Using a time system that "automatically" deducts 1/2 hour lunch each day has recently been challenged by the CA court. You must either allow the employee to report (by any method) the time they are taking for lunch, or implement an independent audit mechanism to ensure that employees are actually taking the time to which they are entitled.

Good luck.

Answer 3

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