Under federal wage law, the employer has the obligation to keep good records about the hours worked by employees.  Failure to keep good records is a violation of the law, and is supposed to penalize the employer in the event of a dispute over whether an employee has been paid appropriately.  In reality, though, poor or falsified records can favor the employer.  Although the employer has the burden of proof to show that an employee is exempt from overtime, or was paid for all hours worked, often the employee has no contrary proof.  So if the employer claims that the employee took an hour lunch every day, the employee may have no more than his recollection that about three days a week he got no lunch break.

With the new app, an employee can keep daily records of his or her own.  The Department is also making paper work calendars available.  Other technological versions are being considered.

The federal Department of Labor recently made a similar pronouncement.  Yesterday, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis stated:

“There is no excuse for employers who disregard federal labor standards – especially those that are designed to protect the most vulnerable in the workplace. The failure to comply with these basic labor standards means that workers are not receiving the money they have earned. It is both an economic issue and a fairness issue. America’s workers should rest assured that protecting worker rights is a top priority at the Department of Labor. To make good on that promise, I have hired an additional 250 new wage and hour investigators, a staff increase of more than one third, to ensure that we promptly respond to complaints and can undertake more targeted enforcement.”

Both federal and state laws permit an employee to obtain additional damages from an employer who willfully withholds wages or misclassifies an employee.  Employers now need to watch employees and the government watching their practices.