DOL: How to keep track when nonexempts take work home
July 2, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Security and law, Telecommuting
These days, employees can get a lot done from just about anywhere. That can cause headaches for HR, because with a lot of them, you still need to record all the time they spend working.
A recent Department of Labor (DOL) opinion letter tackled the question of how to track time when nonexempt employees take mandatory online training on their home computers. A company asked if that time can simply be added to employees’ time sheets.
The answer: Paper time sheets are fine. The Fair Labor Standards Act mentions that all time spent working must be paid for, including hours worked at home, as long as the employer “knows or has reason to believe” the work is being done.
But it doesn’t tell companies how that time needs to be tracked, as long as the information is collected and can be preserved. Therefore, the DOL said, old-fashioned paper time sheets still get a passing grade.
Read the opinion letter here.
View all the Latest StoriesTags: Department of Labor, DOL, nonexempt, timesheets, work at home
July 8th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
It think it might make sense if there is mandatory online training to be done, that the company supply a computer(s) and give each employee time while at work to complete the mantatory training. If a production schedule wouldn’t allow them to do this during their shift for examle, schedule each employee some time either before or after a shift. This way the amount of time is controlled, the company knows when it is being done, and the employee could truly be “on the clock” with no “manual adjustments” or paper time cards to have to keep up with.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:32 am
My comment is a question:
An non-exempt employee told me she checks her inter-office email messages from home (she has a VPN connection) on her off time, including vacations. No one tells her to do it, she said she just wants to keep on top of things while she’s out to make sure things in her area have no problems.
I’ve already told her she should not be doing that, but what do you suggest we tell her beyond this statement? “Our company does not want you to check company-related emails on your own time. If there is an emergency, someone from the company will contact you for assistance, which is compensable time for you.”
July 10th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
While that might be simpler for tracking purposes, flexible time is highly prized by my staff, especially those with families. Working a longer shift is very hard on families, while being able to get training or other extra work done after the kids have gone to bed or before they get up can be incredibly useful.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
In response to Karen P.
You need to pay the employees who are working on their email from home. You could however set up a policy that states that they need to have supervisory approval to do so. If they fail to have approval you still have to pay it, however you now have a disciplinary problem and can write the employee up (other other appropriate action) for breaking policy.