Did you know that if your business is covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act you are required to keep a list of records on all of your employees? One way to determine if you are covered is to take a look at this post I did which lays out the basic parameters. If you have questions about whether you are covered by the FLSA, talk to an attorney.
If you are covered . . .
Every covered employer must keep certain records for each non-exempt worker. The FLSA does not require a particular form or method for the records, but it does require that the records include certain identifying information about the employee and data about the hours worked and the wages earned and, not surprisingly, the information must be accurate. Below is a list of the basic information you need to keep:
1. Employee’s full name and social security number.
2. Address, including zip code.
3. Birth date, if younger than 19.
4. Sex and occupation.
5. Time and day of week when employee’s workweek begins.
6. Hours worked each day.
7. Total hours worked each workweek.
8. Basis on which employee’s wages are paid (e.g., “$9 per hour”, “$440 a week”, “piecework”)
9. Regular hourly pay rate.
10. Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings.
11. Total overtime earnings for the workweek.
12. All additions to or deductions from the employee’s wages.
13. Total wages paid each pay period.
14. Date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment.
How Long do you have to keep the records?
Federal law requires each employer shall preserve for at least three years payroll records, collective bargaining agreements, sales and purchase records. Records on which wage computations are based should be retained for two years, i.e., time cards and piece work tickets, wage rate tables, work and time schedules, and records of additions to or deductions from wages. These records must be open for inspection by DOL “representatives” (i.e., investigators), who may ask the employer to make extensions, computations, or transcriptions.
Failure to keep the required records (or be able to produce them to the DOL investigator) is probably a violation of the FLSA. But there is no reason to be in that situation, either figure out a way to keep the required records or find someone to help you do it.
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