Clocking in for salary employees? (attorney, employment, closing)

[oldtrader]

Having held upper tier jobs with national corporation, I have noticed that salaried people that complain about time clocks, are the ones that are known to take advantage of the company. Companies put in time clocks for salaried employees, because they realize that certain people are taking advantage of the situation, and want to document it and be in a position to solve the problem. The only way to solve the problem, is to install time clocks which everyone has to check in and out with, not just the slackers they want to catch.

Some employees take advantage of the system, and everyone has to pay because of it. There was a report the other day that a federal agency had placed key loggers and cameras turned on the computer stations, and discovered that over half the employees were spending from 2 to 8 hours a day for personal use of their computers, using the computer to do personal things that were banned by company rules such as playing around on face book, playing games on line, etc.

Employees taking advantage of their local system, is what cause employers to take these type of steps to put a stop to it.

[Bummer]

Simple solution, if you've got nothing to hide and are legally working the required hours . . . PUNCH THE CLOCK and move on.

[dynimagelv]

If you dont like the rules of the company its simple.......BUY the Company.....

ALL companies operate byt the Golder Rule

He who has the GOLD makes the rules.

[Storm00]

I'm reading it differently than most of the posters...

I don't think the OP has a problem with the timeclock - what he has a problem with is the incorrect times and total hours of the timeclock. The employer is having everyone clock in 8-5...if someone works 8-8 (a 12 hour shift), then those extra 3 hours are not being recorded. Yes, they are getting paid regardless of how many hours they are actually working, but why does the employer want everyone to clock out at 5? Seems odd to me as well...

I was required to clock in and out at my last job, which was salary, but the times were real - if I got there at 8, I clocked in at 8, and if I left at 6, I clocked out at 6. That's how it should be.

[Storm00]

And I just realized that the original post is from January 2010... LOL

[jimj]

Meh, this is an old post but what the heck, I'll toss in my .02 cents (while I still have .02 cents). Clocking in/out shouldn't get anyone's knickers in a bunch as long as your pay is not affected. The minute that time card becomes a basis to reduce your pay or dictate the hours you'll be there then I'm pretty sure it'd be a violation of the FLSA rules for salaried employees.
It's pretty amazing how little most people know about the rules of being or employing a salaried person, they're pretty strict in many respects. If done incorrectly it can cost an employer serious $$$$$$ in back pay and fines.

[oldtrader]

Salaried employees can be required to be in a place of business certain minimum hours, to be able to perform the duties they are hired to perform. A time clock can be used, to validate their being on the job the same as other employees are---or they can be required to sign in and out when they show up for and leave work so it is known they are on the job. It is one method, for employers to know it a salaried employee is working too much due to too much of a workload, and give them knowledge of when another employee needs to assist the salaried employee, etc. It also indicates that a salaried employee is not working and taking advantage of the employer. It can be used to regulate the pay scale for the job, if a person is putting in a lot of extra hours and should be paid more.

It is a management tool, that is necessary in planning in many businesses.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by oldtrader

Salaried employees can be required to be in a place of business certain minimum hours, to be able to perform the duties they are hired to perform. A time clock can be used, to validate their being on the job the same as other employees are---or they can be required to sign in and out when they show up for and leave work so it is known they are on the job. It is one method, for employers to know it a salaried employee is working too much due to too much of a workload, and give them knowledge of when another employee needs to assist the salaried employee, etc. It also indicates that a salaried employee is not working and taking advantage of the employer. It can be used to regulate the pay scale for the job, if a person is putting in a lot of extra hours and should be paid more.

It is a management tool, that is necessary in planning in many businesses.

But they can't have their pay reduced if they're not there. They can be fired or suspended though.

[oldtrader]

You are right on one thing, they can be fired, warned, and have their pay scale reduced to fit the hours they are not there the same as they can get a raise or bonus to reward them for a lot of extra hours.

If they are habitually not there for a full shift, they will find themselves on a lower salary or fired.

[stephen431]

Originally Posted by oldtrader

You are right on one thing, they can be fired, warned, and have their pay scale reduced to fit the hours they are not there the same as they can get a raise or bonus to reward them for a lot of extra hours.

If they are habitually not there for a full shift, they will find themselves on a lower salary or fired.

If the employer adjusts an exempt employee's base salary due to hours worked, the employer can find themselves in violation of the FLSA salary test.
There are some exceptions (such as a disciplinary suspension if a salaried employee's job duties require them to be available to clients between the hours of __AM-__PM), but the employer needs to be very careful when reducing an employee's salary. Cutting the base pay for exempt employees is an FSLA minefield.