Can an Employer Change Your Timecard in New York

You clocked in on time, worked through part of your lunch break, stayed late to finish your tasks, and expected your paycheck to reflect the hours you worked. But when payday arrives, the numbers don’t add up.

Maybe your clock-in time was moved forward. Your clock-out time was changed. A meal break you never took was automatically deducted. Or some of the extra time you worked simply disappeared from your timecard.

This raises an important question for New York workers: Can an employer legally change your timecard?

The answer depends on why the record was changed. Employers may correct legitimate errors in timekeeping records. However, changing an employee’s time records to reduce compensable hours or avoid paying wages that are legally owed can create serious wage-and-hour issues.

Employers Must Keep Accurate Records of Hours Worked

New York employers have significant recordkeeping responsibilities.

Under New York Labor Law, employers generally must maintain true and accurate payroll records showing information such as hours worked, rates of pay, gross wages, deductions, and other required payroll information. New York law generally requires these payroll records to be preserved for at least six years.

For non-exempt employees, accurate timekeeping is particularly important because the number of hours worked can determine regular wages and potential overtime compensation.

Your employer may use an electronic timeclock, computer login system, mobile application, handwritten timesheet, or another timekeeping method. Regardless of the system used, the payroll records must accurately reflect required information about the employee’s work and compensation.

When Can an Employer Change a Timecard?

Not every change to a timecard is improper.

There may be legitimate reasons for an employer to correct a time record. For example, an employee may forget to clock in, accidentally clock out too early, enter the wrong time, or leave the timeclock running after leaving work.

An employer can generally correct genuine timekeeping errors so that its records accurately reflect what happened.

The concern arises when a timecard is changed in a way that removes or reduces time the employee actually worked.

For example, imagine that an employee finishes at 6:20 p.m., but a supervisor changes the recorded clock-out time to 6:00 p.m. If the employee was performing compensable work during those additional 20 minutes, removing that time may result in unpaid wages.

The important issue is therefore not simply whether the employer edited the timecard, but whether the employee was properly paid for compensable time actually worked.

Signs Your Time Records May Have Been Improperly Changed

Timekeeping problems are not always obvious. Small changes made repeatedly can add up over weeks, months, or years.

Workers should pay attention if they notice patterns such as:

Clock-in times being moved forward.
You arrive and begin working at 8:45 a.m., but your timecard repeatedly shows 9:00 a.m.

Clock-out times being moved backward.
You regularly continue working after your scheduled shift, but your records always show that you left exactly at the scheduled ending time.

Automatic meal deductions.
Your employer deducts 30 or 60 minutes for a meal period even on days when you worked during some or all of that time.

Missing overtime hours.
You work more than your recorded hours, but the additional time does not appear on your paycheck.

Being told to clock out and continue working.
A manager instructs you to clock out because your scheduled shift has ended but expects you to finish cleaning, paperwork, closing duties, customer service, or other tasks.

Time disappearing after approval.
You submit a timesheet showing your actual hours, but the final payroll record contains fewer hours.

Repeated “rounding” that reduces your paid time.
Small adjustments that consistently benefit the employer may warrant closer examination, particularly when they result in employees not being compensated for time they actually worked.

“But My Manager Didn’t Approve the Overtime”

Employees sometimes hear:

“You weren’t authorized to work those extra hours, so we’re not paying you for them.”

Authorization and payment are not necessarily the same issue.

Under federal wage-and-hour principles, compensable work that an employer requires or permits an employee to perform generally must be counted as hours worked. Employers can establish workplace rules concerning when overtime may be worked, but simply having a rule against unauthorized overtime does not necessarily allow an employer to withhold pay for compensable work it permitted to occur.

For example, if a supervisor knows an employee routinely spends additional time completing required closing duties after clocking out, those circumstances may raise wage-and-hour concerns even if the employer’s written policy says employees should not work overtime without advance approval.

What About Working Before You Clock In?

The same issue can arise at the beginning of a shift.

Some employees are expected to perform tasks before officially clocking in, such as:

·       starting or logging into computer systems;

·       preparing equipment or workstations;

·       attending required meetings;

·       reviewing assignments;

·       opening a store or workplace;

·       preparing materials;

·       completing required pre-shift duties.

Whether particular activities count as compensable working time can depend on the facts and applicable law. But an employer generally cannot avoid paying compensable time simply by requiring that the work happen before the employee clocks in.

What If You Work During Your Lunch Break?

Meal periods can also create timekeeping problems.

Suppose your employer’s payroll system automatically deducts 30 minutes each day for lunch. On paper, everything may appear correct.

But what if you regularly answer calls, respond to customers, complete paperwork, monitor a workstation, or perform other required work during that period?

An automatic deduction system does not by itself determine whether time is compensable. The circumstances of what the employee actually did during the purported meal period can matter.

Workers who frequently work through unpaid meal periods should compare their actual work activity with what appears on their timecards and pay statements.

Small Timecard Changes Can Become Significant

A few minutes may not seem important on a single day.

But consider an employee whose records are reduced by 15 minutes before a shift and another 15 minutes after the shift.

That is 30 minutes per day.

Over five workdays, that becomes 2.5 hours.

Over months of employment, repeated missing time can become substantial. And if those additional hours affect whether an employee crosses an applicable overtime threshold, the impact on wages may be even greater.

This is one reason workers should look for patterns, rather than focusing only on one paycheck.

How Can You Tell Whether Your Hours Were Changed?

Compare your pay records with other information showing when you actually worked.

Potentially useful records may include:

·       pay stubs and wage statements;

·       screenshots or photographs of timecards;

·       work schedules;

·       emails and text messages;

·       messages from supervisors;

·       computer or system login records;

·       building or security access records;

·       calendars;

·       work-related phone records;

·       task-management records; and

·       personal notes showing when you started and finished work.

New York’s Department of Labor states that employers should keep track of hours worked each day and each week, and that workers can ask to see their time records. The Department also advises workers submitting unpaid-wage claims to provide supporting materials, when available, such as pay stubs and time records.

Keeping your own contemporaneous record can therefore be useful when you believe your employer’s records do not reflect the hours you actually worked.

Your Pay Stub Can Reveal Important Information

Don’t look only at the amount deposited into your bank account.

Review the details on your wage statement.

Depending on how you are paid and the applicable requirements, your wage statement can contain important information such as the pay period, hours worked, rate or rates of pay, gross wages, deductions, and net wages.

Compare those figures against your own records.

Ask yourself:

How many hours did I actually work?

How many hours does my paycheck show?

Did I work before clocking in or after clocking out?

Were meal periods deducted when I actually performed work?

Did I work additional hours that aren’t reflected in payroll?

Did my recorded hours change after I submitted my timesheet?

A repeated discrepancy may be more than a simple payroll mistake.

What If Your Employer Says the Timecard Is Correct?

A company’s payroll system is not necessarily the final word about what actually happened.

Electronic records can be edited. Employees can forget to clock in or out. Supervisors can make adjustments. Automatic deductions can occur. And workplace practices do not always match what appears in an official policy.

If you believe your time records are inaccurate, preserve the information available to you.

Avoid altering records yourself. Instead, keep copies of documents and communications you lawfully have access to and make notes about discrepancies while the events are still fresh in your memory.

What Can Happen When Missing Hours Result in Unpaid Wages?

When inaccurate time records cause an employee to receive less compensation than legally required, the worker may potentially have a claim for unpaid wages or overtime, depending on the circumstances.

Available remedies depend on the facts and the laws that apply to the worker.

New York law provides mechanisms for recovering certain unpaid wages and other remedies. Some wage claims may have a limitations period of up to six years under New York law, although different claims and federal laws can have different deadlines.

Because deadlines and available remedies depend on the particular circumstances, employees concerned about missing wages should avoid assuming they have unlimited time to act.

What Should You Do If You Believe Your Timecard Was Changed?

Start by preserving your records.

Save your pay stubs, schedules, timecard screenshots, relevant emails and messages, and other information showing when you worked. Write down the dates and approximate hours of any missing time.

If possible, compare several pay periods rather than only one. A pattern of changes can sometimes make the issue easier to identify.

You can also request information about your time records and raise a payroll discrepancy with your employer when appropriate.

If you believe your employer has been reducing your recorded hours or withholding compensation for work you performed, you may also want to discuss the circumstances with an employment attorney.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my employer change my clock-in or clock-out time?

An employer may make legitimate corrections to inaccurate time records. However, changing records in a way that removes compensable time actually worked and results in underpayment may violate applicable wage-and-hour laws.

Can my employer remove overtime from my timecard because it wasn’t approved?

An employer may have policies requiring advance approval for overtime. But whether an employee must be paid for additional work can depend on whether the employer required, permitted, or knew about the work and other circumstances. A policy against unauthorized overtime does not automatically mean compensable work can go unpaid.

Can my employer automatically deduct lunch from my time?

Employers may use automatic meal-deduction systems, but problems can arise when a deduction is taken even though an employee performed compensable work during that period.

What if I don’t have copies of my timecards?

Other evidence may help establish when you worked, including schedules, pay stubs, emails, text messages, login information, calendars, and other work records. New York employers also have payroll recordkeeping obligations.

How long should New York employers keep payroll records?

New York Labor Law generally requires employers to establish, maintain, and preserve true and accurate payroll records for at least six years.

Can I make an unpaid wage claim in New York?

The New York State Department of Labor accepts claims involving unpaid wages, including situations in which an employer did not pay an employee for all hours worked. Whether a particular worker has a claim and what remedies may be available depend on the individual circumstances.

Think Your Timecard Doesn’t Match the Hours You Actually Worked?

If your employer changed your time records, removed hours, automatically deducted breaks you worked through, or failed to pay you for work performed before or after your scheduled shift, you may have questions about whether you received all the wages you earned.

Sanders Law Group helps New York workers understand their rights in unpaid wage and wage-and-hour matters.

If you believe your paycheck does not reflect all the time you actually worked, contact Sanders Law Group to discuss your situation.