I work for a small company in Oregon. A new policy has been instituted requiring all employees to sign in and out when leaving the building. This is not a security issue. I've been with the company for years and there has never been any such policy.

Is it legal to track the comings and goings of salaried employees?

These employees work many hours away from the office on a regular basis and due to the pay structure do not receive compensation for that work. I thought this was the basis of salaried employment -- pay is given for work to be done, regardless of the time or place it may be done.

Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks

Absolutely it is legal to track the comings and goings of exempt employees. Contrary to popular belief, exempt employees do not get to come and go as they please.

There can be many valid reasons to track this time. Although you say it is not a security issue it can be; in case of fire they will know who is in the building. Sometimes clients are billed on the basis of how many hours employees put on their accounts. Sometimes its simply being tracked for FMLA or 401k eligibility.

The fact that the hours are kept track of does not mean that your pay will be adjusted due to what hours are tracked. Many, many exempt employees have their hours tracked without it ever affecting their pay.

Thanks for clearing that up.