I'm a software developer in California. I report my time worked via electronic timesheet at the end of every pay period, however, my employer has sign-in sheets for which the stated need is to know when people are in or out of the building, in case of emergency. I normally initial the sheet when I come or go, but one of our manager wants us to put the time in and out on this as well. As an exempt employee I do not feel I should have to "punch a clock" like this. Is there a legal basis for requiring or disallowing this kind of micro-management, and if so, what are the impacts of my not complying with it?

There is no law that says an employer cannot require an exempt employee to keep a timesheet or log in/out of the building. The consequence of not complying is that the employer could terminate you for insubordination.

There can be any number of valid reasons for requiring it; qualifying hours for FMLA or a 401k; client billing; even safety (I know of companies who require this of their exempt employees simply so that in case of fire or other emergency they can know instantly who is and is not in the building).

However, it doesn't matter whether you know of or agree with the reason or not; it doesn't matter whether you feel it is micromanaging or not. It is a legal requirement and you can be fired for not complying. End of story.

I agree with the other two answers. My prior employer was a large software company who required *all* employees from the CEO on down to maintain detailed timesheets. The company wanted not just total hours worked but what was being worked on. The argument was that salary expense was far and away the single largest expense this company had and a large majority of the employees were Salaried Exempt. Senior management wanted to know what employees were working on. They wanted to have accurate information on what people were working on for budgets, making hire/fire decisions and on deciding what products to put resources into. These were all IMO good reasons. More importantly, as mentioned in the other answers, management does not need a good reason for this and most other actions unless specifically required by law. They can make any employee submit timesheets, specify a dress code and require permission to use the rest rooms at a certain time, even if the employees are Salaried Exempt.

Likely the real reason is that you are really non-exempt and your employer wants to limit their liability. The worst thing for an employer is when an employee has no record of the hours worked. In this case, the frequently exagerated claims of the employee are taken as true. By forcing a tracking of hours worked, if a non-exempt employee who has been hoodwinked for years into thinking he is exempt suddenly realizes this, the employer's liability will be limited to the overtime which he should have paid anyway.

This system allows employers to save significant amounts of money on overtime. They only pay it to the people who demand it and when they do demand it, they aren't subject to any exagerated claims.

Of course, computer programmers in California can be exempt, but given the steep salary requirement and how the hourly rate is computed, if you make less than $150,000, you are likely non-exempt. This law is very different from other states and the federal guidelines.

Well, we're second-guessing the intent of the employer here. I'm sure Michael could be correct for some employers, but my experience would be more for the reasons cbg stated.

Coming in late to this thread but, mtracy, is $150k the current floor limit for the computer exemption? Doing a rough calculation on the US$47.81 hourly rate, I came out with around US$95k per annum. Is there something I'm not factoring in here?

Thanks!
Irish InHouse

The minimum for computer professionals is described as an hourly rate, which means that if the employee is ever required to work more than 60 hours in a week, even $150,000 a year will not be enough.


Salary Required for Hours in Work Week
Year Hourly Rate
2006 $47.81

40 hours= $99,445
50 hours= $124,306
60 hours= $149,168
70 hours= $174,029

The minimum for computer professionals is described as an hourly rate, which means that if the employee is ever required to work more than 60 hours in a week, even $150,000 a year will not be enough.


Salary Required for Hours in Work Week
Year Hourly Rate
2006 $47.81

40 hours= $99,445
50 hours= $124,306
60 hours= $149,168
70 hours= $174,029

I'm in the wrong business. :rolleyes: :eek:

I just don't see the point of exemption that almost no one can actually use- if you are making $150,000 you are probably an administrator or executive anyway.