Prevent Wage & Hour Lawsuits: Compliance Audit Features to Look For in a Time & Labor Management System

Wage & hour lawsuits are on the rise, don't become a defendant

Records from the Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics indicate that total wage & hour lawsuits in federal courts between 2010 and 2011 increased by 4.74 percent and of that, cases related to the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) went up by 15.24 percent in the same time period. (Source: www.uscourts.gov). The easiest and most direct way to avoid becoming one of these statistics is to ensure that you and your managers are not only trained and thoroughly conversant with the applicable laws, but also responsible for full compliance.

When considering a time and labor management system, look for one that has built-in compliance audit features, particularly those that can handle any complex pay environments specific to your industry to prevent wage & hour lawsuits. These may include:

a. Reason Codes: Allows you to add a comment when changing time cards and time sheets

b. Audit Report: Tracks and highlights time card changes resulting in net time changes

c. Hours Variance Report: Reports time card changes resulting in net time changes altered by someone other than the employee

d. Submission/Approval Rejection Notification: Notifies managers of timesheet status changes

e. Predefined Roles: Users can only perform specific functions; meets Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements

f. Creation and Modification Timestamps on All Records: Shows who created or modified a record and when

g. Timesheets Status History: Reports who changed timesheet status and when the change occured

h. Payroll by Pay Group: Allows payroll managers to identify all employees’ pay status and ensures complete payroll for each employee

i. Payroll Register Report: Shows payroll status for all employees and validates payroll totals

j. Shift Exception Limits: Allows for grace limits on in/out punching and lunch time; ensures managers know who is late and who is not complying with work schedules and lunch period limits

k. Minimum Wage Validation on Exports: Ensures no accidental minimum wage violations by allowing automatic pay rate resets to minimum federal wage rates

l. Employee Portal: Allows employees to review time cards, time sheets, schedules, accrual requests and balances and pay stubs

m. Employee Time Sheets on Time Clocks: Helps avoid payroll errors by allowing employees to view their time sheets on time clocks

n. Track Accrual: Allows managers to log and review employees’ time off and other accrual balances

These features are just the start of how time and labor management systems can help you prevent wage & hour lawsuits . Learn more about how EPAY can help, click here. Wage & hour lawsuits can be prevented with proper preparation.