Is it legal for a company to subtract an hours work for clocking in 10 minutes late?
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Is it legal for a company to subtract an hours work for clocking in 10 minutes late?
I am a salaried worker. My employer just started a new policy that if an employee is late to clocking in from lunch, a total of 10 minutes throughout the week or 10 minutes in a single day, they will lose their paid 1 hour lunch from their paycheck for that day. This holds true even if the employee is back from lunch on time and is working but forgot to clock back in. I did some research and isn’t this violating the FLSA?
Asked on August 22, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Michigan
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
You are correct: it is a violation of the FLSA. Hourly employees must be paid for all work done and cannot be docked more pay (including by losing paid lunch) than the actual time they missed. So say you are 15 minutes late: clearly, the employer does not need to pay you those 15 minutes, but cannot take away an hour of pay (the one hour paid lunch). If an employer does this, you could file a complaint with your state or the federal department of labor.
If you are late, there things the employer can do: suspend you; demote you; give you a less desirable shift or job; even terminate you. All those things are legal if you don't have a contract guarantying or protecting your job (without a contract, you are an "employee at will"). But docking pay in any fashion is not permitted.
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