I have a friend who was audited for payroll practices in NJ - the auditor was not happy - apparently her employees keep manual timesheets - this was not the problem - the problem that the auditor had was that the employer and not the employees was tallying the timesheets - according to him, New Jersey state law requires that they tally their own - we can't find anything to support this - any help?

I've never heard of such a thing in any state. I would recommend your friend ask the auditor to provide the law.

For this answer I am assuming that your friend is not a "public works" contractor and was audited under the NJ Wage and Hour Law.

I am not sure what the auditor was referring to, however, N.J.A.C. 12:56-4.2 allows the employer to use any timekeeping system as long as it is "complete, true and accurate...". So, if the employees kept their daily hours and then the employer added them up, as long as the calculations were "complete, true and accurate...", I do not see any problem.

Without knowing the exact citation the auditor believed your friend was violating I can not give you a more definitive answer. However, I will say if the auditor intended on citing your friend for the violation he would have given your friend a "Notice of Alleged Violations" at the conclusion of the audit.

Did your friend receive a "Notice of Alleged Violations"? If so, what citation did the auditor note?

Regards.