Employees Staying Over Scheduled Time

[daycare]

I am done in DC capacity, lost a few kids and I am trying to balance keeping all of my employees.

At our last staff meeting, I told them that I want to keep everyone, but need to make sense of the finances. I told them that I was only going to be paying them for the actual time that I scheduled them. so if they are scheduled to work from 8-12, then they need to clock in/out for those times. I told them that even if they are not done with what they are doing, that I need for them to clock out at that time. Any time that they chose to stay past their scheduled hours are NOT going to be paid.

Well one my my asst who I love to death is a very hard worker and will always stay longer than needed. BUT he is not clocking out. So this week I am having to pay over an additional 2 hours.

Of course, I am going to pay him this time, but next time I am not going to accept it.

I want to make sure that I am well within my legal rights to do this.

I tried to google it, but could not come up with anything.....

thanks so much

[Blackcat31]

I am done in DC capacity, lost a few kids and I am trying to balance keeping all of my employees.

At our last staff meeting, I told them that I want to keep everyone, but need to make sense of the finances. I told them that I was only going to be paying them for the actual time that I scheduled them. so if they are scheduled to work from 8-12, then they need to clock in/out for those times. I told them that even if they are not done with what they are doing, that I need for them to clock out at that time. Any time that they chose to stay past their scheduled hours are NOT going to be paid.

Well one my my asst who I love to death is a very hard worker and will always stay longer than needed. BUT he is not clocking out. So this week I am having to pay over an additional 2 hours.

Of course, I am going to pay him this time, but next time I am not going to accept it.

I want to make sure that I am well within my legal rights to do this.

I tried to google it, but could not come up with anything.....

thanks so much

I can't answer your question as I know nothing about employee law in your state but I do want to say that if I were an employee, I'd be upset about the bolded part above.

If the employee is in the middle of doing story time or reading to a child, are they suppose to just up and stop doing something because it's time to clock out or are they suppose to clock out and then finish what they were doing?

In the first scenario, I would think that would leave a lot of tasks/activities undone.

In the second scenario, if they are required to clock out but then still go back and finish the activity, then they are being asked to work without being paid for that time....kwim?

Just wondering if that is what you meant?

How many assistants/helpers do you have? Instead of a bunch of part time ones, couldn't you find full day ones instead? Seems more stuff would be completed if an assistant was there all day verses a couple hours.

[daycare]

I can't answer your question as I know nothing about employee law in your state but I do want to say that if I were an employee, I'd be upset about the bolded part above.

If the employee is in the middle of doing story time or reading to a child, are they suppose to just up and stop doing something because it's time to clock out or are they suppose to clock out and then finish what they were doing?

In the first scenario, I would think that would leave a lot of tasks/activities undone.

In the second scenario, if they are required to clock out but then still go back and finish the activity, then they are being asked to work without being paid for that time....kwim?

Just wondering if that is what you meant?

How many assistants/helpers do you have? Instead of a bunch of part time ones, couldn't you find full day ones instead? Seems more stuff would be completed if an assistant was there all day verses a couple hours.

so they are scheduled to clock out at a transition time. so right after outside play is done, the other employee is already here to take over. So they would not run into any issues like you are suggesting.

Having a full time employee would cost me way more than 3 part time employees. My insurance, workers comp, over time, and etc would not work out. I have sat to do the math.

Only 2 people are scheduled to work each day.

[Blackcat31]

so they are scheduled to clock out at a transition time. so right after outside play is done, the other employee is already here to take over. So they would not run into any issues like you are suggesting.
Having a full time employee would cost me way more than 3 part time employees. My insurance, workers comp, over time, and etc would not work out. I have sat to do the math.

Only 2 people are scheduled to work each day.

Oh okay, I understand now.

So in that case, then I would just be really diligent/firm about employees clocking in and/or out at their scheduled times.

Maybe even tell them they will be written up for not doing so. If after 3 occurrences, they will be termed/fired. Would that work?

[Leigh]

Not paying for time worked is wage theft, and it could REALLY cost you big. It is illegal not to pay your employees for time worked. Your choices are to pay the employee for all time worked, or FORCE them to drop everything at noon and leave, whether finished or not.

You'll be in a heap of trouble if you don't pay for ALL time worked. I worked for one of the world's largest corporations, and a few years ago, we all got checks for thousands of dollars-they had to go back (because the Dept. of Labor forced them to) and pay for 3 years of back wages for doing just what you suggest: paying only for scheduled hours, but they were requiring us to come early and stay late.

You can't even expect them to clock out and then discuss the situation at work with their coworkers. They need to leave when they clock out.

[jenboo]

If you are not requiring them to do any work before or after their scheduled time, I do not see a problem in it.
Just tell them once again that it is very important for them to clock out at their scheduled time and if they do not follow this policy, then they will be written up.

[MarinaVanessa]

Do NOT withhold wages. You have to pay them for the time that they are locked in for. If you don't pay them for all of the time that they are clocking in for you could find yourself in trouble with the labor board.

I suggest you pull him aside and talk to him in a one on one meeting and give him a warning. Get him to sign a written notice stating that he understands that he MUST clock in and out at the appropriate times and cannot go over his scheduled hours and if he does go over by 5 minutes a day (or something) that he will be placed on probation. Then actually do it. Then cut his hours by 30 minutes per day so you have that extra 30 minute buffer in the case that he still does not follow through with clocking out on time. Do this for all of your employees.

[daycare]

Do NOT withhold wages. You have to pay them for the time that they are locked in for. If you don't pay them for all of the time that they are clocking in for you could find yourself in trouble with the labor board.

I suggest you pull him aside and talk to him in a one on one meeting and give him a warning. Get him to sign a written notice stating that he understands that he MUST clock in and out at the appropriate times and cannot go over his scheduled hours and if he does go over by 5 minutes a day (or something) that he will be placed on probation. Then actually do it. Then cut his hours by 30 minutes per day so you have that extra 30 minute buffer in the case that he still does not follow through with clocking out on time. Do this for all of your employees.

I understand what you are saying, but how could that be true? Lets say that I worked at target and I was scheduled to work from 9 to 3 but every day I was staying until 4...... How is that fair to the employer, if they budget and scheduled me for the hours set that they gave me in writing.

I do have in my employee HB this rule that they will only be paid for the hours scheduled unless I ask them to stay longer, otherwise, they will need to clock out at their scheduled time to do so.,

[snbauser]

The search function never seems to work for me but I vaguely remember reading something similar where Tom weighted in on the "do I pay them if they don't punch out" thing.

[butterfly]

Is it necessary to have a "time clock"? If you are only willing to pay for those hours, why do they need to clock in and out? Is it unlawful to not have a time clock type system?

Meaning - pay for the hours they are scheduled only.

[sharlan]

Have you considered paying by the day versus by the hour?

[daycare]

Is it necessary to have a "time clock"? If you are only willing to pay for those hours, why do they need to clock in and out? Is it unlawful to not have a time clock type system?

Meaning - pay for the hours they are scheduled only.

it does help me to track the hours and money spent. In the past, there have been times that I have asked them to stay later, come in earlier etc and this helps me make sure that I am paying them on time.

What I have found out is that I can have an Electronic time management feature to automatically clock out employees. I can always go back to add time, just not take time away.

If I see that the employee is not clocking out on time, I can ask them to change the time , sign off on it and then write them up as MV said, showing that the employee is TAKING hours that they were not scheduled for.

I think that the program I have does have a feature where I can set up an automatic clock in time/out time.

thanks for all of your help, I am feeling pretty stressed here trying to hold on to everyone and manage my numbers all the way around.

[Kabob]

Perhaps your best bet to consult a lawyer. In the restaurant business we were instructed to write up employees for poor performance if they didn't clock out on time. Whether or not this is legal in your state I don't know.

[Angelsj]

I understand what you are saying, but how could that be true? Lets say that I worked at target and I was scheduled to work from 9 to 3 but every day I was staying until 4...... How is that fair to the employer, if they budget and scheduled me for the hours set that they gave me in writing.

I do have in my employee HB this rule that they will only be paid for the hours scheduled unless I ask them to stay longer, otherwise, they will need to clock out at their scheduled time to do so.,

They can place you on probation or fire you, but they MUST pay you for any hours you are working.
You have only the option of firing this person or lowering their hours/days they are there, but you MUST pay them for any and all hours they work.
Explain to him that he must clock out on time, or he will no longer have a job.

[daycare]

I did find this information

If an employee forgets to clock out, the human resources manager can have the worker correct the hours on the time sheet and sign off on them.


I will not do it this time, but I will make certain that if it happens again that I will make them do this and then write them up.

thanks for all of your help