Federal, state, and local laws require employers to keep accurate records of non-exempt employees' work hours. This seemingly straightforward process can become complex when employees punch-in early, leave late, travel for business, participate in company trainings, or use their mobile devices to check work email after-hours.

Here are nine timekeeping practices that you should avoid:

Refusing to pay employees who punch in early.

Non-exempt employees must be paid for any time worked, regardless of whether they punched in early, on time, or late. You may subject your employee to disciplinary action for failing to follow company policy, but in no case may you withhold pay for any time considered "hours worked" under federal or state law.

Failing to consider whether time spent for COVID-19 screenings must be paid.

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are required to pay employees for screening and other tasks performed before/after their normal working hours if the task is essential for the work they do. For many employees, undergoing a temperature check before they begin work must be paid because it's necessary for their jobs, according to recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). When determining whether screenings are an integral and indispensable part of the job, employers may want to consult legal counsel. State and local laws may offer greater protections for workers.

Noncompliant rounding practices.

While it's a best practice to track employees' time to the minute worked, the FLSA permits employers to round employees' hours for uncertainty or inefficiency (to a maximum of 15 minutes). Your time rounding policy must be applied fairly and cannot consistently round in the company's favor or result in the failure to count all the time employees have actually worked. For example, if an employer rounds to the nearest 15 minutes, they may round down employee time from one to seven minutes, but they must round up time from eight to fourteen minutes.

Note: Some states place additional limits on time rounding. For instance, the California Supreme Court recently ruled that employers are prohibited from using rounding practices when tracking whether meal periods are provided in compliance with state requirements. Check all applicable laws and consider your timekeeping system before implementing a time rounding policy.

Neglecting to track after-hours/remote work.

This may be especially tricky during the pandemic. Time spent outside of the traditional workplace to respond to work email, access the company network, check phone messages, or perform other work tasks is generally considered compensable work time. Make sure non-exempt employees know that that they must report all time spent working, including time they spend checking work email. Keep in mind that employers must pay non-exempt employees for all reported and unreported work hours that they know or have reason to believe have been performed. This is true even if the work wasn't authorized in advance. In most cases, you may satisfy your obligation under federal law by providing reasonable time-reporting procedures and paying employees for all reported hours (state law may require additional actions). If employees can't use your regular timekeeping system to record after-hours work, instruct them on how to promptly and accurately report these hours.

Note: You can't ask or allow non-exempt employees to work "off-the-clock." Make sure you have a policy that expressly prohibits off-the-clock work and have controls in place to prevent it.

Counting only productive time as hours worked.

Under the FLSA and many state laws, employers must pay employees not only for time actually spent working, but also for certain nonproductive time, such as time spent in training or traveling. For example, when an employee travels overnight for work, the employee must be paid for all time that cuts across their regular work hours, regardless of whether the travel occurs on their regular work day. If an employee's regular work hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, you must pay the employee for overnight business travel that takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. even if it occurs on Saturday or Sunday. Some states have travel time rules that are even more generous to the employee. Make sure you understand the rules on compensable training and travel time and instruct employees to record their time accordingly.

Also, under the FLSA, if you provide a rest break (any period lasting 20 minutes or less that the employee is allowed to spend away from work), it must be paid. Therefore, make sure employees don't punch out for breaks lasting 20 minutes or less. The duration of the break is generally the sole factor used when determining whether pay is required, not the reason for the break.

Withholding pay if employees fail to submit/sign timesheet.

Under the FLSA and many state laws, an employer must pay employees for all hours worked on the next regularly scheduled payday, regardless of whether the employee adhered to the company's timekeeping procedures. If an employee fails to submit or sign a timesheet, ask the employee and their supervisor to immediately provide/confirm the hours worked and pay the employee accordingly.

Refusing to count 'unauthorized' work as overtime.

Employers must pay non-exempt employees overtime whenever they work more than 40 hours in a workweek (some states require overtime in additional circumstances), regardless of whether it was authorized in advance. You may have a policy that requires employees to get permission before working overtime. If employees violate the policy, you may subject them to disciplinary action for failing to get approval in advance, but in no case may you withhold overtime pay.

Automatic deductions for meal periods.

It's a best practice to require employees to clock out and back in for their meal periods. This can help ensure that employees are paid for missed lunch breaks and account for times when employees return from lunch late. Time records should accurately reflect that the employee took a meal period, how long the meal period lasted, and the actual hours worked. In addition, some states have meal period recordkeeping requirements, and automatic deductions may violate these requirements. Check your state law for compliance.

Failing to address interrupted meal periods.

Under the FLSA, for a meal period to be unpaid, it must generally be at least 30 minutes without interruption and the employee must be fully relieved of all duties for the purpose of eating regular meals (some states have additional requirements). If the employee's meal is interrupted, the employee should either be paid for the full meal period or be allowed to continue their meal period for a full 30 minutes following the interruption. Instruct employees to report interrupted lunch breaks so that they can be paid for the time.

Note: At least two states (California and Washington) require employers to provide premium pay to employees for interrupted or otherwise noncompliant meal periods.

Conclusion:

Develop policies and procedures to ensure that you keep accurate time records for all non-exempt employees and that they're paid for all compensable time under federal, state, and/or local law. Additionally, at the end of each pay period, require employees to review their time records and verify that they're accurate. This can help you make corrections before running payroll and document that the employee has confirmed the accuracy of their time records.