I work for an automotive dealer in AZ as a flat rate technician and have received several complaints from our hourly techs of time punches being changed by management to avoid paying overtime. Such as lunch hours worked being deleted. As far as us flat rate paid techs, we have also been shorted as much as 14 hours per employee on our most recent paycheck. We have never received an adequate explanation of why this has happened. As with other issues they are only trying to sweep it under the rug. I'm sure you understand as a flat rate employee we receive a print out of all the completed work at the end of the pay period and on pay day the hours should match. They do not. Based on these issues, is it possible to file an anonymous complaint with the Labor Board for an audit or investigation? If so, what is the process?

Are you talking about the techs who make the flat rate per job or the techs who are paid on an hourly basis? The former must average at least minimum wage for all hours worked. The latter must be paid their hourly rate for all hours worked. There is a difference. There is also an exception in the FLSA for certain employees of auto dealerships in that overtime pay is not required, merely straight time or its equivalent (if "flat rate").

Anonymous complaints usually to go the bottom of the priority list.

Thank you for the response. The hourly techs have had their time punches changed. One tech had an entire day deleted. Another hourly tech had a full week of lunch hours erased. As far as flat rate techs, for example: we complete a pay period keeping track of all flat rate hours we have produced (and confirmed by employer) which add up to 100 hours. When we get our paycheck we are paid for 90. When asked where the other 10 hours are, there is basically no explanation from management. We use a digital time clock system (ADP) and it is not possible for a technician to go in and find out what has been changed and when. This is why we need blanket investigation to find out how many times and to who this time clock adjusting has been done. If it's not anonymous, I don't work there, period.

Two separate issues.

The hourly paid employees can file claims with the ICA (the Dept. of Labor in Arizona).

Relative to the flat-rate employees, although the FLSA requires that accurate records be kept of all hours worked by nonexempt employees (including the ones paid strictly on an hourly basis), as long as your total gross pay for the week when divided by actual hours worked is at least minimum wage, there is no additional pay due legally. Showing 90 hours instead of 100 is not going to make a pay difference unless dividing gross pay by 100 is less than minimum wage.

If this is a punch clock, the original punches should still be there and it should be obvious they were changed. If an electronic time reporting system, the system should have reports where it shows that the punches were edited and by whom. In the meantime, those employees should keep their own records, at home, not on the company's time; a paper notebook or electronic spreadsheet would be fine.

If workers are fired for reporting an alleged violation of law to the appropriate regulatory authorities, they could also have a wrongful termination suit. Generally speaking, reporting such alleged violations internally do not generate such protection. However, you could at least question the manager. "Hey, Bob, my time cards showed 100 hours worked, but my paycheck only shows 90."

I might also add that some systems are set up to automatically deduct a lunch. If you worked through your lunch, your manager should be notified so that the auto lunch deduct can be deleted.

Sorry for the confusion. I made the mistake of responding while in a hurry. What I meant when I said that us flat rate techs have a time difference of 10 hours on our paycheck, is that this is paid time not punch time. All together we have a shop of about 10 technicians shorted approx 80 hours of pay in one pay period. With regards to both hourly and flat rate tech punch/pay time, the manager has been made aware of the issue. Without going into an unnecessary amount of detail, we have been told that all techs have received what was due to them. The problem is that this is the only time we have not received documentation to support the deductions, which are extremely excessive. Instead the blame is shifted back to the technician for not keeping records back as far as a month and a half. My position is that the only records we have is what the dealership gave to us. If they need them, reprint them. It is becoming obvious that something dishonest is happening. We use a PC based time clock and the only way to view the logs of the hourly techs punch time changes is with the managers password. We (all employees) must sign a printout of our punch time for the pay period before receiving a paycheck. One hourly technician even spoke to the HR department about a missing day that he worked and was told by the manager that he was not allowed to speak to HR. The manager did acknowledge that he erased the employees complete time for an entire day and it would be paid on the following paycheck. His next paycheck did not include the missing time. As far as the auto deduct time clock for lunches, the manager also admitted to this. The tech was told that he was not allowed to work through his lunch hours and his time punches were deleted by the manager. It has gotten to the point that you feel as though you are working for a 5th grade bully. In my opinion, the manager's pay is based so heavily on department performance that he has stooped to the level of time clock manipulation in order to make his numbers look better. When you have such a gross violation across the board affecting so many employees, doesn't the labor board pull all records in regard to employee punch time? The other problem is that everyone is afraid of filing a report and dealing with management retaliation. There are many ways for this manager to legally make us miserable. With this type of work it would be very easy to "starve out" the unwanted. Would it make more sense to speak with an attorney and avoid the labor board altogether? Thank you

You can do either/or, but not both. Problem is that filing a law suit does not protect your job from retaliation; filing a claim with the ICA does (theoretically). It certainly wouldn't hurt to get the advice of an attorney before proceeding, though.