As a business owner, it is your duty to ensure hourly employees are compensated for their time in accordance with labor laws. Previously, federal courts have ruled that 10 to 20 minutes of unpaid work is insignificant, based on the de minimus rule referring to an amount of time so small it’s too difficult to record.
However, a 2018 California labor case against Starbucks made it to the Supreme Court and ruled California employees must be compensated for ALL time worked, no matter how small the amount. The plaintiff in the suit alleged that Starbucks required him to perform closing duties after clocking out of his shift each day. The decision considered that the California Labor Code had not adopted the de minimus rule and it made it clear that workers must be compensated for all time worked. As a result, Starbucks changed policies after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in Troester v. Starbucks.
Installing a biometric clock in system near the exit of your business is a simple way for employees to clock out as they begin and end their shift. Another option that works is manual time clocks for employees. In essence, any time tracking machine is better than a simple piece of paper being used as an employee clock in and out sheet.
With the popularity of using a remote workforce in recent years, you may opt to allow employees to work from home. Tracking time with a web based time clock offers a convenient way for hourly employees to punch remotely while still allowing business owners to track employee attendance.
The best small business time clock for your office may be an employee punch card or perhaps a more sophisticated timeclock time tracker.
Check out the digital time punch clock recommendations below for a simple and foolproof way to pay employees for their time worked. For more info, click the images:
Calculating uPunch eliminates human error by doing the math for you. Easily tally your employee hours each pay period.
The Auto-Align uPunch model tracks all your employee time per pay period, and you do the math using the completed time card records.
