I work for a small company in Minnesota and recently I was assigned the job of calculating some of the hourly payroll. My boss (according to the company handbook) insists that if an employee does not clock out for lunch I am to deduct 30 min from their work time. Also, if they clock out for less than the 30 min he wants them to take, I have to take additional time off their hours (up to 30 minutes) to make up for it...Is this right? :confused:

Thanks for your help.

If the employee works through the lunch period, the employee must be paid. The fact that they did not clock out does not necessarily mean they were working

We have clients that have time keeping systems that automatically deduct thirty minutes for lunch and we need to adjust the hours in those rare cases that an employee works.

If an employee punches out, but punches back in a few minutes early and starts work, the employee gets paid for working, but ONLY if the employee is working. Punching in a little early and doing no work does not count.

So, what your boss wants is legal, so long as the employees are not working.

Thanks. I'm not sure if that helps or not. These employees are working at a different site and there's not always someone there to verify if they are working after clocking back in.

Is it safe for my boss to assume that if they clocked back in after 20 minutes then they are not working and to take the extra 10 minutes off?

I'm not sure of the answer to your question. I'm not sure there IS one answer to your question. I would think that whether or not that is a safe assumption, would depend on your company culture.

However, it might help for you to know that while an employee must be paid for all the time that is actually worked, the employer maintains the right to insist that a 30 minute (or any other length of time that is not shorter than may be required by state law) break be taken and that EVERY employee take NO LESS than that. An employer may legally fire an employee who does not take the breaks required by the employer, even if they are not required by law, and even though the employee must be paid for the time they worked. It is up to the employer, not the employee, what hours are worked.

I know it doesn't solve your problem. But it might help clarify that the employer is within his rights to demand that these breaks be taken.