Can you clock in early

In this case, be transparent about why clocking in early is a real problem for the company. Also, be clear that you can no longer tolerate it. Be prepared to follow through with any disciplinary actions outlined in the company policy.

The disciplinary actions may vary and can escalate depending on the number of offenses, but this is often required to change unwanted behavior in some employees. If you find an employee is getting closer to reaching overtime and requiring overtime pay, send them home early. Though, keep in mind that while it might solve the overtime problem, it often leaves the company with an uncovered position that needs coverage which presents an entirely different issue.

Depending on your time clocking system, consider placing limits on how early an employee can clock in. While you may not want to pay your employees for the time they clock in early, you are legally obligated to. If an employee is ready to work and on the floor, they must be paid even if the time was not authorized.

The same goes for employees who stay late. In most workplaces in the US today, leaving work 5 minutes early for a good reason, if the work is done well, would not be subject to any disciplinary action. When you say he or she has a good work ethic but they clock out 5 min early ….

Disregarding time. According to Fair Labor Standards; employers must compensate employees for the hours that they worked; regardless of whether they forgot to clock in or out. The responsibility of time keeping ultimately falls on the employers; who must do their best to ensure accuracy with the paychecks.

Accordingly, an employer may discipline or terminate an employee for clocking out or leaving early. Minus 7 minutes is the accumulative time allowed. Meaning you could be 2 minutes late to start, go over lunch by 2 minutes, then still clock out 3 minutes early.

So, if restricting access is not an option, your best bet is to detect and deter. Simply allow your employees to clock in when they are ready to start working and clock out once their work is done.

By NOT locking your employees out of your timekeeping system you can easily monitor your systems for unauthorized hours, detect them, and then do something about it.

Remember that just a few instances of working off the clock can be the basis for claiming that it occurred regularly. Setup the system to notify you when an employee clocks in early or late and use the information to address the issue directly with those employees. That way, the employees can be put on notice about your company policies or even terminated for repeated violations and a written record of your compliance can be recorded without making you vulnerable to potential wage and hour complaints down the line.

Schedule a free demo now! Looking for more information on how you can use a digital timekeeping system to build legal protections for your practice? Check out these resources:. State vaccine mandates are rare, but certainly nothing new. Having well-documented policies should help you substantiate any discipline or corrective actions you may decide to impose. Please Sign In and use this article's on page print button to print this article.

How To: Growth Strategies. By Michael Henckel — Contributing Writer,. Sep 4, Related Content.