Any business that has employees is liable someday to become the target of a Department of Labor wage and hour investigation. As scary as an investigation can be, it’s even more frightening when you don’t know what to expect.

Here are five things you may not know about wage and hour investigations, along with a few simple steps you can take to minimize your risk:

1. You May Get No Advance Warning.

Most times you will be notified ahead of time that an investigation is being opened. However, Wage and Hour Division investigators can simply show up unannounced on your doorstep. They sometimes like to take an opportunity to observe normal business operations before target companies have had a chance to “clean up their act.”

2. You’ll Probably Never Know Why You Were Selected for Investigation.

In almost all cases, the investigator will not tell you why you’re being investigated. Often, it’s a complaint from one of your own workers. Sometimes a competitor may file a complaint if they believe a company is underpaying its workers and using those savings to gain an unfair advantage.

Since complaints to the Labor Department are confidential, the investigator won’t tell you who complained or what they said… or if there even was a complaint in the first place. Sometimes the investigation wasn’t initiated by a complaint. From time to time, the Department sweeps businesses in certain “low-compliance” industries, or simply decides to blanket a particular geographic area to check for compliance.

Recently, for instance, they’ve investigated gas stations in New Jersey, hotels in Ohio, car washes in California and restaurants all over the country.

3. Get Ready To Go Digging Through Ancient History.

The investigator will need to see business records to help determine which laws and regulations apply to your business. But the investigator doesn’t just want to see what you’re doing right now. He or she will also want to look at general business, time and payroll records going back up to three years.

What they’re looking for:

• Have you been paying overtime-eligible employees at least minimum wage? Have you been paying overtime exempt employees at least $455 per week?
• Have you taken any unauthorized deductions from anyone’s paycheck?
• If you employ or have employed any independent contractors, were they truly independent, or were/are they employees?
• And so forth…

4. The Investigators Don’t Just Rely on a Paper Trail.

As part of the examination, the Wage and Hour investigator will likely interview some (or all) of your employees. These interviews will likely be in private, without you present. In some cases, they may even talk to former employees, meet with your workers at locations away from work or conduct interviews via email or telephone.

What they’re looking for:

• To determine employees’ actual job duties. The investigator wants to ensure your workers are properly classified as exempt or non-exempt.
• To see that you’re observing all the applicable child labor laws and restrictions.
• To make sure there aren’t any “hidden” violations. For example, a Chinese restaurant in San Jose, California was caught recently issuing paychecks to their wait staff that made it appear on paper as though the employees were being paid correctly. However, the restaurant owner then forced workers to sign the paychecks back over to him, allowing workers to keep only their tips as pay. Interviews with the workers uncovered the ruse.
• Any other information that might help them in their investigation.

5. Your Liability Insurance May Not Cover You.

Many companies have purchased Employment Practices Liability (EPL) insurance, thinking their policy will protect them in any wage and hour cases that might arise. However, in many instances insurance companies will attempt to deny coverage based on one or both of these arguments:

• The “Fair Labor Standards Act exclusion” prohibits coverage of the claim. This exclusion bars coverage for “alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act… or any similar federal, state or local statute.”
• The policy only covers “loss,” and the back wages owed are not “losses” but “restitution.” That is, the company is simply catching up with what they should have paid workers from the start, not suffering a “loss.”

Companies do challenge these denials and win — sometimes. But mounting a challenge takes time and resources and isn’t guaranteed to be a success. In December 2011 in California, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled an insurance company was not required to cover any claims arising from a wage and hour lawsuit (California Dairies, Inc. v. RSUI Indemnity Company).

Even in cases where courts have sided with the insured, the judges often only mandate payment for partial claims, leaving the company on the hook for the rest.

So, What Should You Do?

1. First and foremost, make every effort to pay your workers correctly. Use a reliable time and attendance system to track everyone’s time accurately. Be sure to pay overtime-eligible employees for all the hours they work, including overtime. This is not the time to guess, estimate or settle for “close enough.” The goal is to do what you can to avoid an investigation or lawsuit in the first place.
2. Keep accurate, organized, well-maintained time and payroll records that can be accessed quickly, going back for at least three years. When it takes a long time to produce records, or the records you provide are sloppy or incomplete, it could appear you’re trying to hide something.
3. If you’re investigated, contact legal counsel right away. Your lawyer can act as a knowledgeable and unemotional liaison with the investigator. The lawyer should review all requested documents before they’re handed over, to ensure you aren’t inadvertently revealing more than was asked for. The goal is to wrap up the process quickly and smoothly, with a minimum of hassle for you and your employees.
4. Play by the rules. Do not try to prevent or discourage employees from cooperating with the investigator. Don’t “get even” with any employee you suspect of having filed a complaint. Interfering with the investigation or retaliating against employees will only make matters worse.

Nothing can promise 100% immunity from wage and hour investigations or guarantee investigators will never find any issues. However, with a bit of advance planning and solid business practices — including making sure to always track employee work time accurately — you can minimize your risk.

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For many businesses, it’s become a scary world out there. A recent article in USA Today revealed the number of wage and hour lawsuits filed in 2011 was up 32% over 2008. According to law firm Seyfarth Shaw in 2011 there were over 7,000 wage and hour lawsuits filed in federal court alone.

The Department of Labor (DOL) and many states have significantly ramped up their wage and hour compliance monitoring. The DOL increased staff by 40% in the past two years. According to DOL reports, in 2011 they recovered $225 million in back wages for employees, representing a 28% increase over 2010.

Business wage and hour practices are under a microscope. Even inadvertent missteps can cost your company big money.

Let’s look at three of the biggest wage and hour pitfalls for businesses in 2012. If your organization has committed any of these blunders, you should take steps to correct the situation now, before it turns into an expensive lawsuit or DOL audit.

Employee Misclassification

Some companies, in an attempt to save on overtime, taxes and employee benefits, classify most or all of their workers as independent contractors. That’s OK — as long as the workers really are independent contractors. Unfortunately, in some cases, the workers are actually employees, not contractors.

There are specific criteria that must be met in order for workers to be considered independent contractors. Any worker who doesn’t meet all the criteria is an employee.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) collected more than $5 million in back wages on behalf of employees who were misclassified as independent contractors. As previously reported, the DOL has also launched a misclassification initiative. They’ve signed Memorandums of Understanding with state and other federal government agencies. These allow the DOL and these other agencies to share information in an effort to combat the misclassification of employees as independent contractors.

The original initiative involved the DOL, IRS and seven states. It has since expanded to include 13 states, with Louisiana joining at the end of February 2012. States participating now include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Utah and Washington. It’s expected that more states will join as time goes by.

“Off the Clock” Work

Some employees have filed lawsuits claiming their employers forced them to work off the clock. Of course you’re aware that making employees work off the clock is illegal. However, even well-meaning employers can inadvertently allow overtime-eligible employees to work off the clock. Either way, if you don’t pay your employees for all the time they work, you could find yourself on the hook for big penalties.

For instance, let’s say one of your salaried non-exempt employees regularly spends time catching up on work-related email in the evenings and over the weekends. She says she’s able to spend more time researching customer questions and crafting her responses when she’s away from the day-to-day hustle and bustle of the office.

While you may admire her dedication, you will likely be required to pay her for that time. Usually you don’t have to pay for a quick, occasional check of voice mail or email. (The courts call these “de minimus” activities.) But any work-related activity that takes more than a few minutes will almost certainly be considered compensable time.

Required Attendance, No Pay

If you require overtime-eligible employees to attend a seminar or training program, team-building exercise or company social function, you will almost certainly have to pay them for that time.

The event must meet all of the following criteria before the time can be considered non-compensable:

• Attendance is completely voluntary. In some cases, companies have even been required to pay for “voluntary” events because their supervisors pressured employees, such that the workers felt they were effectively required to attend.
• The employees don’t perform any productive work during the event. Employees can serve as unpaid volunteers at your event, as long as they really are volunteers and the tasks they perform are unrelated to their job or your line of business.
• The event takes place outside of normal work hours. Any company event that takes place during work hours would be considered compensable time.
• If the event is a seminar, course, lecture or other educational or training program, the topic does not directly relate to their current job. If an employee stays after work to learn new skills unrelated to his existing job, this would not usually be compensable. So, for example, you could let employees use your office to hold after-hours knitting classes. You would not be required to pay them for that time (assuming they don’t work for you as knitters, of course). Training to help an employee do better in the job they already hold, however, is compensable.

Similarly, if you require employees to be available for work, but don’t have work for them to do right away, you must pay them for their waiting time. In general, whenever you require hourly or salaried non-exempt employees to make themselves available to you such that they aren’t free to use the time for their own purposes, you must compensate them for that time.

Solutions

So, how can you protect yourself?

1. Conduct a wage and hour audit. You can do this yourself internally, or consult with your employment law attorney. Document the criteria you used to classify your workers, particularly any independent contractors. Having this documentation may serve as a “good faith” defense in the event you’re later found to have misclassified anyone.
2. Make sure all employee work time is recorded. Train your supervisors and managers about the issues “off the clock” work can cause the company. Install a good time and attendance system and insist that all employees use it to track their work time. Yes, even your salaried employees. Notify all employees that working off the clock is not permitted, and will subject them to disciplinary action.

3. Get a handle on work performed outside the office. If you have overtime-eligible employees who regularly telecommute or otherwise work outside the office, consider a solution such as Acroprint’s AcroTime for tracking their time. This online time clock can be used to clock in and out from anywhere the employee has Internet access and a browser. It even offers a telephony option for even greater flexibility.

   You may also want to consider prohibiting overtime-eligible workers from performing any work (including checking email and voice mail) outside of regular work hours without their supervisor’s permission. If someone does unauthorized work after hours, the law says you still have to pay them for the time. However, you are also permitted to take disciplinary action for the rule infraction.

With a little foresight and care, you can avoid these and other wage and hour pitfalls. An important part of wage and hour compliance is to make sure you’re paying your employees for all the time they spend working. A reliable automated time tracking system from Acroprint will reduce your risk. Acroprint time and attendance systems ensure accurate recording of employee work time — and save you significant money on your payroll processing.

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Apparently, the lawmakers mandated the system back in 2010 and again in 2011, but now they think the Department of Corrections officials have been dragging their feet on implementation. So they’re thinking about upping the ante, by holding in reserve $1 million of the money earmarked for the Department, pending “successful statewide implementation” of the new system.

Now, I have to tell you, it warms my heart to see lawmakers taking time and attendance tracking so seriously. But what really made this story stick in my mind were the reader comments.

What’s the Big Deal, Anyway?

Here’s what first got my attention. A commenter who identified herself only as “Kathy” wondered, “What the heck is the difference in signing a time card and using an expensive time clock?” and speculated the new system was “just another way to make prison workers miserable.”

Sadly, this is how many people think about time and attendance.

What I found interesting, though, was that several other people who posted follow up comments — all of whom said they were employees of the Department of Corrections — were in favor of the new system.

They wanted a modern electronic system because they felt it would help solve the problem of unpaid work time. As one said, “If you’re on the clock, you get paid, plain and simple.”

They also were concerned that on the existing time card system, some employees were able to get away with coming in late, forcing their more prompt co-workers to cover for them. They (correctly) felt that a more modern system would help identify these slackers and perhaps put a stop to the problem.

Here’s One Big Difference

So, what’s the difference between signing a time card and using a time clock?

With handwritten time cards or timesheets, employees tend to estimate their time rather than recording exact arrival and departure times. Somebody who straggles in at 9:10am might write down their arrival time as 9:00am. Someone who slips out at 4:55pm may write down their departure time as 5:00pm.

Some time cards don’t even require employees to record start and stop times. The time card only asks them to enter the total number of hours they worked each day. In this situation, the temptation is great to simply record a full shift worked every day, regardless of the exact arrival and departure times.

Unless supervisors are closely monitoring and taking notes on when each employee arrives and leaves, they may not notice or remember these small “rounding errors.”

A few minutes here, a few minutes there. It doesn’t seem like much. But it only takes a few such minutes a day to add up to big money lost over time. Multiply the time and money lost by the total number of employees, and the scope of the problem for the employer can become truly breathtaking.

Newton’s First Law (Inertia) in Action

The advantages of electronic time tracking don’t stop with improved accuracy in recording employee time. I’ve written before about the many benefits offered by an automated time and attendance system when compared against handwritten time cards.

Then why do so many organizations still use handwritten time records?

Many organizations that still use time cards do so out of inertia. They may have started with basic handwritten records, and they simply haven’t changed. However, by doing so they’re missing out on all the time and money saving benefits a modern time tracking system could bring their business.

But these businesses aren’t the only ones suffering from inertia when it comes to their time and attendance tracking.

(Spring)Time for a Time and Attendance Review

By some estimates, the average organization holds on to their time tracking system for seven to 10 years. On the surface this may seem to be practical — these companies are certainly squeezing every bit of use possible from these systems.

But updated time tracking systems are coming out all the time. If your system is more than a few years old, some of these new solutions may be much better suited to your needs. Given the very short payback period of automated time and attendance tracking, it doesn’t make sense to limp along with an outdated system when you could easily and economically step up to a new solution that perfectly fits your business requirements.

Here in most of the USA, we recently changed over to Daylight Saving Time. Safety experts recommend folks use the spring and fall time changes as reminders to check the batteries in their home smoke detectors. (Excellent advice, by the way!)

Similarly, I encourage you to use the spring Daylight Saving Time change every year as a reminder to take a look at your organization’s time and attendance system. Does it still meet your needs? Or have you outgrown your old process?

Is it time for you to “spring forward” into a more modern time and attendance system?

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If you already use timeQplus, you may find something you like in this updated version. Contact Acroprint today to find out more about your upgrade options so you can start taking advantage of these new features right away.

If you don’t yet use timeQplus, perhaps one of these new features will be just the thing to convince you to step up to this powerful and easy-to-use workforce management solution.

Now, let’s take a closer look at what’s new.

The Software

First we’ll check out the new software features. We’ve added several top customer-requested features while making the software even easier to configure and use.

• Job costing: This has been a big “wish list” item for many of our customers. By using the software’s work codes feature, you can now easily track employee time by project or job, making accurate and timely job costing a breeze.
• More informative terminal display: Now, when an employee clocks in or out using one of the badge or biometric terminals, the terminal will display their hours worked summary and current “in/out” status. (Another popular customer request.) Employees can now see at a glance their status and know if they’ve missed a punch.
• Improved hardware installation tools: With a new terminal “auto-detect” feature and other installation tools, it’s even simpler than ever to connect and configure terminals.
• Updated software graphical interface: We’ve refreshed the look of the Administrator windows. Existing users, don’t worry — you’ll still find all the reports and screens you’re familiar with. They just look a little snazzier now.
• Support for additional terminals: We’ve added support for two new badge terminals (more on them in a minute) for even more flexibility. As always, you can mix-and-match multiple data collection options on the same system to suit your business needs.

The Terminals

The upgraded timeQplus now includes support for two new badge-swipe terminals. In addition to the existing PC-punch, proximity badge terminal and biometric terminal options, we now also offer terminals that use magnetic-stripe badges or barcode badges.

As always, you can mix-and-match your choice of data collection options on a single timeQplus system. For instance, the people in the office can clock in and out using the networked PCs on their desks, while the folks in the warehouse could clock in and out using a badge-swipe or biometric terminal.

A timeQplus system can accommodate as many terminals as you need to effectively manage your business. Install terminals where ever you need them for efficient clocking in and clocking out. You can designate which terminal(s) each employee can use to clock in and out.

All four of the timeQplus terminals can now be configured to display in your choice of English, Spanish or French to meet your needs and those of your workforce. Like the existing proximity and biometric terminals, the new barcode and magnetic-stripe terminals feature a bright, easy-to-read LCD display and include a numeric keypad so employees can clock in using a PIN if their badges are forgotten, lost or damaged.

Find Out More

To read more about the updated timeQplus software and the two new terminals, see complete specs, download a software demo or place an order online, visit our web store. Got additional questions? Give us a call at 800-334-7190 for more information or to place an order over the phone.

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It’s January once again. And once again many of us probably celebrated the New Year by making out a list of resolutions.

So, how are things going with your resolutions? If you’re like me, it’s easy for good intentions to fall by the wayside. I start every year all gung-ho about going to the gym, watching what I eat, de-cluttering… but it’s so easy to slide back into my comfortable old routine.

Setting resolutions is easy. The problem lies in following through.

One area where you can’t afford to backslide, though, is in your resolution that this year you will get a better handle on your business’s labor costs.

Labor is typically one of the largest single expenses for most businesses. If you’re still using handwritten records or simple spreadsheets to track time and attendance your business could be losing money every day to time theft, inefficient processes and clerical errors.

Installing an automated time and attendance system goes a long way toward solving the problem. But, just as with our personal New Year’s resolutions, we all face obstacles in keeping up with our business resolutions. Unless you know how to overcome them, those obstacles can stop you in your tracks.

Here are a few issues we’ve seen our customers facing, along with some suggestions for how to deal with them.

Too Many Choices

You have many choices when it comes to what sort of timekeeping system to buy, and where to purchase it. It might even seem there are too many choices. You don’t have time to research each and every one. But unless you do your homework, how are you to decide?

Wage and hour laws are complex and the penalties for non-compliance can be severe. You can quickly narrow down your choices by focusing on an experienced vendor with extensive time and attendance knowledge. Find a vendor who offers a variety of alternatives, enabling them to meet your requirements.

For instance, here at Acroprint we’ve specialized in time and attendance tracking for over 40 years. We carry a complete range of options — from traditional heavy-duty punch clocks to a cutting-edge online time and attendance service — to support most any business.

Procrastination

In the hustle and bustle of getting your everyday job done, it’s easy to let selecting, purchasing and setting up a new time and attendance system slide to the back burner. When it comes to modernizing your time and attendance, though, procrastination is definitely not your friend — every day you delay could be costing your business money.

Take a look at our online time clock, AcroTime. If you’ve been procrastinating because you think setting up time and attendance will be a hassle, you may be in for a surprise with AcroTime. All you need is an Internet connection and a browser and you can be up and running in an afternoon. Your employees will find the web-punch interface easy and intuitive, or you can easily add terminals if you prefer a badge or biometric system.

AcroTime is a great, low-impact way to get going with updated time tracking. With unlimited employee capacity, the ability to easily add badge or biometric terminals any time, and automatic “hands-free” software updates, it could be the last time and attendance system you ever need to set up.

Employee Resistance

Giving up their comfortable routine to adopt a new time tracking system can be a hard adjustment for many employees. Here are a few things you can do to help make the transition smoother:

• Train employees on the use of the new system before it goes “live.” Don’t make employees figure out on their own how to use cool features or time-saving shortcuts — show them.
• Listen to — and address — employee concerns. For instance, if you’ve chosen a biometric system some employees may believe that offering their fingerprint or a hand-scan could violate their privacy. You (and they) might find the information in our Biometrics FAQ helpful.
• Help employees understand how the new system will benefit them. For instance, with a newer automated system they’ll see fewer errors on their paychecks. This saves them a lot of headaches and hassles in getting these errors corrected. Employees are more likely to accept a new system when they understand what’s in it for them.
• Make sure the new system really does help. Observe employees using the system. If you notice a bottleneck or other problem area, fix it. For instance, you may need to move a terminal to another location, modify your software configuration or purchase an additional clock. Your timekeeping system should adapt to your business, not the other way around.

Make Your Move

Albert Einstein is supposed to have said, “Nothing happens until something moves.” The best time and attendance package in the world won’t do much for your business unless it’s installed and used.

Getting control of your labor costs with a modern time and attendance system is one New Year’s Resolution you can’t afford to let slide.

If you’re ready to make “something move,” visit our web store to learn more about our full line of time tracking solutions.

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Wage and hour is one case where ignorance is definitely not bliss. Many employers who find themselves on the wrong side of wage and hour law are well-meaning. They simply didn’t know their policies and practices were out of compliance.

Let’s review what happened in wage and hour in 2011, and peer into our crystal ball for some hints of what we might expect in 2012:

Employee Classification Remains a “Hot Button” Issue

In our 2011 Outlook, we noted that classification of workers as “employees” versus “independent contractors” was likely to receive focus from both the Federal Department of Labor (DOL) and state labor auditors.

This has proven true. As we reported in October in a roundup of 2011 DOL initiatives, the DOL’s 2011 budget included a request for $12 million to fund a multi-agency “Misclassification Initiative” targeting “industries with misclassification characteristics.” In September, the DOL and the IRS, along with at least seven states, signed a “memorandum of understanding,” pledging their cooperation in identifying and punishing employers who misclassify employees as contractors.

We can expect this issue to continue to receive close attention from both Federal and state agencies in 2012. The fiscal year 2012 Wage and Hour Division budget includes a request for $15 million in funding and the authority to hire 107 employees for the misclassification initiative to “support field investigator training activities and an additional 3,250 investigations.” Industries slated for scrutiny include construction, child care, home health care, grocery stores, janitorial, business services, poultry and meat processing, and landscaping.

Action Items for 2012: Make sure you thoroughly document your justification for every position you classify as an independent contractor. Check with your employment law attorney to verify your classifications are proper. Be sure to record all hours worked for any workers you have classed as contractors, in case any are later reclassified as employees by a DOL audit and you need to determine whether they’re due any overtime.

Changes In The Courts

Over the past several years, wage and hour lawsuits have turned into something of a growth industry. Sometimes, the court filings in wage and hour cases are very short on specific details. For instance, the filing may allege unpaid overtime but neglect to mention any dates and times when the unpaid overtime supposedly occurred. In some cases, identically-worded complaints have been filed against multiple employers. Some observers speculate plaintiffs’ lawyers in these cases simply toss out a litany of vague charges in hopes the employer will opt to settle instead of incurring the hassle and expense of a trial.

Some judges now seem to be losing patience with these “cookie cutter” filings. They’re demanding more in the way of specific details for each case, and dismissing cases where such information is not forthcoming.

With courts paying closer attention to the details of wage and hour cases filed, in the coming years we may see a reduction in the growth rate of these cases. They’re still highly lucrative for attorneys, so it’s unlikely the total number of cases filed will actually decrease any time soon. However, requiring additional detailed documentation of claims may mean the growth rate will slow to more manageable levels.

Action item for 2012: Review your payroll policies and procedures to ensure you comply with all applicable regulations. While courts are starting to rein in vague “cookie cutter” lawsuits, all companies with employees are still vulnerable to wage and hour claims. Your best defense is reliable, accurate time and attendance records, such as those produced by Acroprint timeQplus or AcroTime.

Off-The-Clock Work In Focus

By some estimates, 70% or more of employers are out of compliance with one or more provisions of wage and hour law. A problem area that’s been receiving more attention lately is off-the-clock work.

Here’s one typical scenario: a health care worker in a busy hospital or clinic starts on a scheduled half-hour lunch break. Part of the way through, a patient emergency arises, and they’re called back to work. In order to “count,” a meal break must consist of an uninterrupted half-hour in which the employee is totally relieved of work duties. Unfortunately, the time and attendance system is configured to deduct a half-hour meal break automatically every day.

Unless the supervisor goes back in and “adds back” that automatically-deducted half hour, the employee may have a claim for unpaid time. This problem is common in fields such as nursing and tech support, where employees are prone to being called at any time to deal with emergencies.

In other cases, employees are reading and answering work emails in their off-hours using their smartphone, laptop or tablet. If the company is short-handed, workers may be tempted to put in extra time outside normal working hours — perhaps at home — to keep up with the workload. Sometimes loyal employees may even volunteer to work extra hours off the clock to “help out.” They mean well, but federal law says overtime-eligible employees must be paid for all their work time.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers have noticed these issues. Some are aggressively seeking out instances of potential off-the-clock work. With more employees telecommuting and the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, we expect the situation to get worse in the future.

Action items for 2012: Establish clear policies regarding employee use of company voice mail and email during non-work hours. Make sure any overtime-eligible employees know they need to record all work time, even when they’re away from the office. (An online time clock such as AcroTime, which can be accessed over the web from virtually anywhere, could be ideal for this.) If your time and attendance system is set to automatically deduct time for meals, consider instead having employees clock in and out when they’re on meal breaks.

Summary

Overall, we expect 2012 will see continued litigation and an even stronger focus on enforcement from both the federal and state labor departments.

Prudent businesses should consult with their employment law advisor to verify their policies and procedures comply with all applicable laws and regulations. To further reduce risk we advise the use of a reliable, accurate time tracking system to ensure all employee work hours are recorded and properly compensated.

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One thing we might want to add to that list: use these events as reminders to take a fresh look at our current business time-tracking solution.

Just as with other types of technology, today’s time and attendance solutions offer capabilities that just a few years ago would have been prohibitively expensive — if they were available at all. If you’re still using the same solution you used even a few years ago, you could be missing out on opportunities to save money and run your business more effectively.

How do you know when it’s time to step up to the plate with a new solution? As it happens, we can look to the wisdom of the great New York Yankees player/manager Yogi Berra for guidance.

“You Can Observe a Lot By Watching.“

The first thing to do is stop, look and listen. As Yogi said, “You can observe a lot by watching.”

Do your employees punch in and out at a clock every day? Is the process smooth and easy, or do they often experience bottlenecks at busy times? If you use manual timesheets or job cost cards, do your employees gripe about how much time it takes to keep them up to date?

Modern automated time and attendance tracking systems can record start and stop times with a simple wave of a badge or quick finger swipe. Unlike manual timesheets or time cards, supervisors can also review and approve time records quickly and easily on their computers.

If your employees are spending almost as much time recording their work time as they are actually working, it’s probably time to consider an upgrade.

“I Knew I Was Going To Take The Wrong Train, So I Left Early.”

Are you confident your employees accurately report their work time? In a survey a few years ago 60% of the respondents said their employees aren’t accurately recording their time.

Employees who enter their time in on manual timesheets are prone to remember well the times they came in early or stayed late. Recalling the times they left a little early because they knew they were “going to take the wrong train”? Maybe not so much.

Traditional punch clock and time card systems eliminate the problem of employees’ selective recall, but even these can be abused. Some employees will ask a co-worker to clock in or out for them when they’re running late or planning to leave early. They’ll get a full day’s pay — even though they weren’t there for the full day. This practice, known as “buddy punching,” can cost businesses thousands of dollars a year.

In one Aberdeen Group study, 19% of employees admitted to buddy punching. If that many admit it, you can be sure even more have done it but simply won’t ‘fess up. Buddy punching isn’t a problem, though, for companies that use a biometric system to insure each employee is physically present when clocking in or out.

If you’re relying on employee “guesstimates” for their time worked, or if you’re concerned buddy punching could be a problem, it could be time for an upgrade.

“We Made Too Many Wrong Mistakes.”

The more manual steps there are in your payroll processing, the more likely it becomes for clerical errors to creep in. Even with safeguards and double checks in place, mistakes will slip by — mistakes that will lead to paycheck errors. This means disgruntled employees and extra time required to fix the mistake.

Modern automated time and attendance systems calculate work time and export that data directly to your payroll processor. They eliminate clerical errors arising from manual computations and data entry. Automated systems can reduce several hours of manual processing down to a few minutes, freeing personnel for more productive tasks.

If you’re ready for faster, more accurate payroll processing, it could be time for an upgrade.

“If You Don’t Know Where You Are Going, You Will Wind Up Somewhere Else.”

Does your current time and attendance tracking solution allow you to run labor time reports at any time to see where you stand? Or do you have to wait until the timesheets or time cards have been totaled at the end of the pay period, only finding out important information after the fact?

A modern time tracking system gives you the information you need to know where your business is going — before you accidentally find yourself somewhere else. Quality time and attendance software systems include labor management reports you can run at any time. They allow you to not only see where you stand, but also to plan where you’re going next.

If your time tracking system doesn’t give you access to up-to-date employee time data when you need it, you should consider an upgrade.

“A Nickel Ain’t Worth A Dime Anymore.”

An outdated time and attendance solution isn’t just an inconvenience. It could actually be costing your business real money.

You may think upgrading your time and attendance system will cost you money. However, it’s more likely modernizing your time and attendance solution will instead start saving you real cash. In fact, people who migrate from manual processes to automated systems generally find the new system pays for itself in a matter of only a few months.

Sometimes the savings are truly breathtaking. Recently, for instance, MarketWatch reported the New York City Department of Education realized a 3,478% ROI when they implemented a new time and attendance system. (You can read the full article with all the details here.)

Acroprint offers a handy savings calculator you can use to estimate your own savings from an automated time tracking system.

If you’re ready to stop wasting money on inefficient manual payroll processing and inaccurate time records, it’s time to think about an upgrade.

“It Ain’t Over Until It’s Over.”

As you’ve seen, there are many good reasons to consider upgrading your time and attendance solution. And there’s no time like the present. The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll start realizing the benefits.

Visit our online store for more information about our wide range of time and attendance products available to help you modernize your time tracking, streamline payroll processing and save money.

Contact us today for more information or to get started with an upgraded time tracking solution. Every day you continue with a time tracking system that doesn’t meet your business needs is just like “déjà vu all over again.”

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Sometimes, business owners can be tripped up by what appears to be a simple request. For instance, what if your workers ask for the choice of taking “comp time” or getting paid for their overtime work? At first glance, it might seem like a great idea. Your employees enjoy more choices, and you could save some cash.

Unfortunately, if you allow overtime-eligible workers to take time off in lieu of overtime pay, you’re violating the law.

Many other pitfalls await the unwary. Even well-intentioned business owners can find the big, bad “DOL wolf” knocking at their door.

A New Sheriff In Town

Back in 2009, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis declared, “There’s a new sheriff in town,” heralding a significant increase in the DOL’s enforcement efforts. They began by hiring over 250 additional field investigators for the Wage and Hour Division alone. Since then, the agency has launched several major initiatives:

We Can Help

In 2010, the DOL announced their “We Can Help” program. This program includes a website and public service announcements (PSAs) in both English and Spanish. It’s designed to educate low-income workers about their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It also makes it easier for them to report violations.

Plan/Prevent/Protect

Also in 2010, the DOL announced “Plan/Prevent/Protect.” Each bureau and dvision that makes up the DOL will require employers to:

• Create plans for ensuring they comply with applicable labor laws.
• Put their plans into action.
• Monitor and report on their results.

Access to Justice

In late 2010, the DOL announced a cooperative effort with the American Bar Association. This effort is part of the “Access to Justice” initiative spearheaded by the Department of Justice. Sometimes, the DOL can’t resolve a worker’s complaint because of limited capacity. Now, when that happens they’ll furnish the worker with a toll-free number to call for a referral to a qualified employment law attorney.

“There’s An App For That”

In May, 2011, the Wage and Hour division released DOL-Timesheet, a smartphone app giving employees an easy way to record their own work hours. In their announcement, the DOL noted they may use information from this app during a wage and hour investigation if the employer’s own records are inadequate.

Employee Misclassification Initiative

The DOL’s budget for FY2011 included $12.0 million to fund a multi-agency “Misclassification Initiative.” It’s designed to catch and punish businesses that misclassify employees as independent contractors. This initiative especially targets “industries with misclassification characteristics,” such as construction, child care, janitorial services and others.

Memorandum of Understanding: IRS, DOL and 11 States

On September 19, 2011 the DOL and the IRS signed a “Memorandum of Understanding,” pledging cooperation in their efforts to combat worker misclassification. Labor commissioners from the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah and Washington also signed. Labor Secretary Solis announced the states of Hawaii, Illinois, Montana and New York are expected to sign, as well.

This memorandum of understanding allows the DOL, the IRS and the signing states to share information and coordinate enforcement efforts.

Your First Line of Defense

So, what can you do to protect yourself from increasingly active state and federal labor departments?

As it happens, one of your best defenses is a good time and attendance tracking system. A system to track your employee time helps reduce your risk in many ways. For instance:

• Accurate time records enable you to calculate overtime pay correctly. When employees are confident their paychecks have been correctly calculated, they are happier and less likely to file complaints. A time and attendance system can help you avoid expensive and time-consuming wage and hour investigations.
• By having employees clock in and out at lunch, you can document that everyone is taking legally-mandated rest periods or meal breaks. If there’s ever any question, you’ll have proof of your compliance with the law.
• Even if you’ve done everything right, you’re still at risk of a wage and hour complaint or lawsuit filed by a disgruntled employee. Well-documented time records can help refute claims of massive unpaid overtime or other payroll irregularities.

To protect your business, install and use a reliable, accurate time and attendance system. If you already have an Acroprint time and attendance solution, make sure you’re using it to record work time for all employees… even your salaried workers.

If you need to upgrade your time tracking capabilities, Acroprint offers a variety of time recording options, ranging from classic heavy-duty punch clocks to AcroTime, our online time clock. We’ve specialized in time recording for over 40 years. We’re sure to have a time tracking solution that is suitable for your work environment and offers the features your organization needs. In addition, we carry a full line of accessories and supplies to keep your time recorder or software working smoothly and meeting your needs for years to come.

Don’t let the big, bad DOL wolf “huff and puff” and blow your business down. Make sure you’re accurately recording hours worked for all employees.

Contact Acroprint today for more information or to make a purchase.

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After punch clocks and time cards, the next big technological leap was the development of time and attendance software. Using software for workforce management offers advantages such as automatic calculations and downloads to payroll. Time tracking software can save businesses time and money on payroll preparation while virtually eliminating clerical errors.

The latest development in time tracking technology is “the cloud” — also known as Software as a Service, or SaaS. Instead of using software installed on a computer at your location, your employees clock in and out over the Internet. As with time tracking software, you can automatically compute hours worked and download data to your payroll processor.

Maybe you’ve been wondering why you should consider a monthly subscription time tracking solution instead of purchased/installed time and attendance software. Cloud-based time and attendance, such as Acroprint’s AcroTime service, offers distinct advantages for many businesses. Let’s take a closer look at some of these benefits and discover whether an AcroTime online time clock could be right for your organization.

No IT Resources Needed

The first benefit you’ll notice is that AcroTime setup is simple and straightforward. All you need is Internet access and a browser. Once you’ve signed up, simply log in to your special company site using a standard web browser and you’re ready to start recording employee work time. There’s no software to install and no complex set up. You can be up and running in minutes!

Your monthly subscription includes software updates. We take care of all upgrades and maintenance. You won’t have to lift a finger.

AcroTime is an ideal solution for offices that don’t have a dedicated IT department on-site.

Low Up-Front Costs

Often, even when organizations know they need to upgrade their time tracking, they hold off because of the out-of-pocket cost of a new solution. Subscribing to AcroTime allows you to update to the latest advanced features with very low up-front costs. We even start you off with a free 30-day trial!

AcroTime is a good choice for businesses that want to minimize their capital outlay.

Secure Data Storage

It’s inevitable — if you have a computer, at some point it will crash, get hacked or stolen, or be damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster. You can lose any data you don’t have backed up. When the data in question is employee time records needed to calculate payroll, data loss is not merely an inconvenience; it could spell disaster for your business.

AcroTime is hosted in one of the only commercially available data centers built to meet or exceed Department of Defense standards. Our data center features:

• Multiple Internet connections.
• Backup power supplies.
• An excellent uptime record.
• Servers “hardened” to reduce the threat of hacking.
• Regular backup to ensure your data is safe and secure.

You can access your employee time data securely from any computer with an Internet connection, 24/7/365.

AcroTime helps ensure you’ll be able to process payroll on time, no matter what.

Environmentally Friendly

Employees can clock in and out, supervisors can review and approve time entries and administrators can review reports and export time records to payroll — all on line. There’s no need for paper time cards or timesheets. Online time tracking is convenient, efficient and secure.

With AcroTime, you can save money on supplies and help the environment at the same time.

Centralized Data Processing

Employees can clock in or out from anywhere you designate, as long as they have a computer with an Internet connection. You can also choose to install biometric or proximity badge terminals, even in remote offices, as long as they have Internet access. You can opt to allow employees to clock in and out using the telephone — a useful option for mobile workers.

Since all your employee clock in/clock out entries are maintained on our server, you can securely access your data from any computer with Internet access. You can easily and quickly process payroll centrally, even when you have a large number of remote locations or mobile workers, taking advantage of economies of scale.

For organizations with multiple locations or a mobile workforce, AcroTime offers efficient, centralized time tracking and processing.

Cost Proportional to Your Usage

Some industries, such as agriculture, retail or hospitality, experience wide fluctuations in demand based on the season or other factors, resulting in large swings in the number of employees required. Many less-expensive software packages limit the number of employees the software will accommodate. Software packages that offer unlimited employee capacity are often expensive.

With AcroTime, it isn’t necessary for you to purchase a bigger system than you need simply to handle occasional peak staffing levels. AcroTime’s monthly subscription plan allows you to pay only for the capacity you need that month.

AcroTime makes special economic sense for companies with seasonally variable business levels.

Your Next Step

This has been just a small peek at the benefits offered by web-based time and attendance. To find out more, or to start your free 30-day trial so you can experience the full range of benefits for yourself, visit the AcroTime website at www.AcroTime.com or call us at 1-800-298-0330.

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Starting with the court cases:

Dukes v. Wal-Mart

Betty Dukes claimed after six years of excellent performance evaluations at Wal-Mart she was denied the training she needed for a better-paying position because of gender discrimination. Wal-Mart countered that she wasn’t sent to training because of clashes with her supervisor and because, as she herself admitted, she had a problem getting back on time from lunch breaks.

It might have been just another “she said, they said” employment law case. But then Ms. Dukes’ lawyers sought to certify a huge class of 1.6 million female Wal-Mart employees, claiming pervasive, corporate-sanctioned gender discrimination. If they’d been successful, it would have been the largest class-action suit ever attempted. Just litigating it could have cost Wal-Mart a fortune, and if they’d lost the case their liability could have been in the billions.

Not surprisingly, Wal-Mart fought the class certification all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In June, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled the plaintiff “class” didn’t have enough in common to proceed with the proposed suit. Further, they ruled 5 to 4 that the case couldn’t proceed as any kind of a class action at all.

This case had received a ton of attention thanks to the explosive rise in class-action wage and hour lawsuits in recent years. In the initial euphoria following the decision, many employers’ lawyers hailed the decision as “the death of the employment law class action,” but that’s clearly overstated. The problem here appears to have been simply that in this particular case the class was too big and too diverse. There have been several other class-action cases certified since then, all for much smaller and more homogenous classes.

Bottom line: you’re not out of the woods where potential class-action liability is concerned.

Tenth Circuit Weighs in on Donning and Doffing

As we noted in a recent post on our Time For Business blog concerning where the courts stand on the subject of “donning and doffing,” the courts are divided on the subject. The question is: are employers required to pay for time employees spend putting on or taking off protective gear and the like?

As I noted in that blog post, the Second, Third, Fourth and Eleventh Circuit US Courts of Appeals have answered that question in somewhat different ways.

Now the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (the Rocky Mountain region) has affirmed a lower court ruling that turkey processing workers are not entitled to compensation for the time they spend “donning and doffing” personal protective equipment because according to the court these activities are not “changing clothes” under either the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or Colorado law.

A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court would clear up much of the confusion. Unfortunately, up until now, the Supreme Court has declined to hear cases related to donning and doffing.

Bottom line: If you think you might have a “donning and doffing” issue, be sure to check with your employment law attorney to make sure you’re in compliance with the rules as laid down by the Circuit Court that has jurisdiction in your state.

California Overtime for Non-Residents

Also in June, in the case of Sullivan v. Oracle Corporation, the California Supreme Court decided California overtime rules apply to out-of-state employees who work full days or weeks in California for California-based employers.

The Court also ruled any such overtime claims could serve as the basis for claims under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL — otherwise known as Business and Professions Code section 17200). This means the statute of limitations on such claims extends back four years. For comparison, FLSA claims normally go back two years, or three years if the employer’s conduct was found to be “willful.”

However, the Court also concluded that overtime incurred in other states cannot be the basis for claims under California’s UCL simply because the decision to classify an employee as exempt was made in California.

This decision left a number of questions unanswered. For instance: what happens when an employee who works part of the time in California is properly classified as exempt in their “home” state, but is not exempt under California law? What other California Labor Code provisions, if any, will apply to non-resident employees who work in California?

Bottom line: if you’re a California-based employer with out-of-state employees, consult with your employment law attorney about the implications of this new ruling.

Connecticut “Sick Leave” Law

Finally, on July 1, 2011, Connecticut became the first state to mandate sick pay for employees when Governor Malloy signed into law “An Act Mandating Employers Provide Paid Sick Leave to Employees.” Broadly speaking, beginning January 1, 2012, employers with 50 or more employees in Connecticut must provide paid sick leave to their service employees.

The Act requires employers to provide covered employees with a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours the employee works, up to a maximum of 40 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year. Employees are entitled to carry over up to 40 hours of unused sick leave from one year to the next.

There are exceptions to who is covered, and restrictions on how the accrued sick leave can be used. There’s no need to change your existing policies if they already meet the law’s requirements. However, it is important to verify you’re in compliance, as the law provides for significant penalties for violations.

Bottom line: if you’re a Connecticut employer, check with your employment law attorney to make sure your policies conform to this new law.

How Acroprint Can Help

One way to reduce your risk is to make sure you accurately record all hours for all employees, hourly and salaried, even if you don’t think they’re eligible for overtime. Record work time for independent contractors, as well.

If it turns out those contractors should have been classified as employees, or if employee time you treated as non-compensable actually should have been paid, you’ll be thanking your lucky stars you have accurate data to use for calculating time worked. Otherwise, as we noted in a blog post, the courts may well use your employees’ recollections of how much time they worked. Having your own accurate records could save you a lot of money.

To make it easy for you to accurtely and reliably track employee time, Acroprint offers traditional punch clocks, software-based time and attendance systems, and AcroTime, an online time clock that also offers optional accrual tracking for time off, such as sick leave, vacation and personal days. With the industry’s most comprehensive selection of time tracking products, we’re sure to have a solution that works for your business or organization.

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