Well the company I work for is at it agian. Here recently (last week or so) my manager has been changing all of the employees clock in time from when they actually clock in.(if they clock in early) I guess corporate got on the managers for their employees clocking in early for work and lunch, where talking seconds here, not even like 15 minutes. So I did a little experement last night and clocked in 1 minute and 12 seconds early, sure enough my manager changed my clock in time so now I have taken a 31 minute lunch. I know this does sound kind of petty, but if you add it up......... Also I clock out after 12:00am and the time punch does not see the times I have punched in earlier that day, so my manager has to go in and change my time punches so that they are all on one day and I usually end up losing a couple of minutes on that too! (gee it's funny it always seems to get rounded down in time, clock out @ 1:08 it gets changed to 1:05). This does not seem legal to me, if you clock in at a certain time and begin your work shoudn't you get paid for it? I know I would rather get paid for 8.1hrs with the .1 of overtime than 7.99hrs! Thank you for your help with this and in the past!

So they're paying you by the minute, no rounding?

Yes that is Correct!!

It seem to me that your employer is rounding it off, rounding is legal, however it have to benefit both way not just for the employer, for example (5 min. rounding):

:01-02 = :00
:03-04 = :05
:06-07 = :05
:08-09 = :10

.. and so on.. but it seem like your employer rounding it off for their advantage, which is illegal. DLSE can assist you with your concern.

They are rounding off for me because I am the only employee that has to have their time manually entered. But that should not have to happen for the other employees that don't have to have their time manually entered. The manager is just changing their time so they don't clock in early! It looks as if though they are not only paying by the minute, but by the second. Our time punches always have the seconds on them (ie 4:33:47).

Contact the DLSE, and let them figure out what is right and wrong here, if they tell your employer to do this a certain way, and they do not, contact them again, and they will be fined. Good luck to you!!

There is no payroll system I know of that can handle paying by the second. :p

It would not be illegal for them to round for other employees, but not for you, as long as the rounding is within legal guidelines which, assuming droopy has interpreted your post correctly (and I have no reason to doubt that he didn't), and it was not because of a protected characteristic, such as age, race, gender, etc.

Why do YOU think your time card is being handled differently?

Oh, and BTW, if you aren't actually working once you clock in, just because you clocked in doesn't make the time automatically compensable. If you clock in 15 minutes early and sit around with a cup of coffee and the newspaper and chat with your buddies for 15 minutes, you do not have to be paid for that time, clocked in or not.

If the payroll can't pay by the second, then why is the manager rounding people's time punches up? I clocked in 40 seconds eairly for lunch on Friday and he rounded my time up. I know why MY time card is different. I explained that in my first and third post. I work after midnight (the only employee who does) and they need all of the time punches on one day. That does not explain why the manger would change the other employees time punches.

Exactly, BECAUSE the system can't handle paying by the second. I take it midnight ends the defined work day?

No, maybe I am not explaining myself well. We use an internet based clock in/out system that shows time punches down to the second. That is why the manager is changing the employees clock in time (if they clock in early). Yes 12:00am is the end of the work day

Heck, if it is a computer based time card, it could go by milliseconds lol, but I would check with the DLSE, to see if him going into the computer system, and changing the time is illegal. Your testing was wrong to do though, you clocked in when you were not supposed to, and did not have permission to do so. They could fire you for that, so I guess changing it would be better than firing you for working when you were told you could not (no overtime). If they tell you that you can work overtime, or certain hours, and change it, then why don't you just ask your boss why he is doing this, and you are losing money over it?? Have you just asked him about this? Maybe if his bosses saw this unauthorized time, he knew he would have to disipline you, and is just trying to avoid having to fire someone?? Just guessing my friend. Keep in touch.

At the end of the day, the law requires that Non-Exempt employees be paid for actual time worked. If the employees are punching in early and not working, the employer has a pretty good argument for changing the punches to reflect actual hours worked. HOWEVER, if the employee later claims that they actually worked that time, then the employer's less then smart handling just put the employer at risk.

IMO, if the employee is incorrectly recording actual hours worked, then discipline them. If the employer is going to change the time accounting, then the employer also (IMO) needs to put the employee on formal record that they messed up. Employers who only change the time accounting records are putting themselves at risk for a wage claim.

I asked the manager today why he was changing the time punches. His exact words where "the state of California requires you to take a 30min lunch if you work over 6hrs and he could get in trouble if we did not take a 30min lunch" IMO thats was a line of B.S., I think he is changing it so you do not end up with the point whatever overtime. I am not here during the day, but I know the rest of the employees well and if they clock in you can bet they get right to work. I know a couple of them that will actually work on their lunch time to help the other employees out. And yes I am losing money. I don't know how much it would be (not much), but yes!

I asked the manager today why he was changing the time punches. His exact words where "the state of California requires you to take a 30min lunch if you work over 6hrs and he could get in trouble if we did not take a 30min lunch" IMO thats was a line of B.S., I think he is changing it so you do not end up with the point whatever overtime. I am not here during the day, but I know the rest of the employees well and if they clock in you can bet they get right to work. I know a couple of them that will actually work on their lunch time to help the other employees out. And yes I am losing money. I don't know how much it would be (not much), but yes!

Please remember, if you are told to take a certain amount of lunch, and you don't, they CAN fire you period! I know where I work, some employees, because of thier jobs, and the importance of time, are allowed to work, and not take a lunch, and get paid for it, and some are not, it is at thier discression, but if it is a state law, that you take a lunch after 6 hours, the employer is taking a risk by letting them not do so, so your boss is right, they can get in trouble, if someone turns them in for not allowing them a lunch break.

California law provides that employees must receive a 30 minute meal break if they work in excess of five hours. During this time, the employee must be relieved of all duties because it cannot be a working lunch. If an employer fails to give a proper meal break, the employee can recover one hour of pay at their regular rate of pay for each day they are not provided a proper meal break.

There are exceptions to the rules regarding meal breaks. A bona fide "exempt" employee is not subject to this rule. If the work day is less than six hours, the employee can agree to waive the time period. In the health care industry, an employee can agree, in writing, to waive this meal period. Further, employees working under a collective bargaining agreement may not be subject to the rules regarding meal periods.

In some cases, an "on duty" meal break can be provided only when the nature of the job prevents the employee from being relieved of duty and if there is a written agreement between the employer and employee. The written agreement shall state that the employee may revoke the agreement at any time.

There may be a chance that the employees that you see getting paid for skipping thier lunch, may have a written agreement as stated above. Either way, you do as your boss says, or you get fired. Please, I do not want to see you lose your job because you think it is not fair. He should not change the time either, but two wrongs won't protect you from getting fired for not doing as your boss says you must. Good luck hon!!

Thank all of you for your timely responses and clearing this up for me!