Karen (unhipster) wrote in library_mofo,
  • Mood: cynical

timeclock mofo-ery

So, I don't know if this is legal or not (it doesn't seem like it should be!) but it's definitely shitty.
The timeclock in the library I work at rounds your punches to the nearest quarter-hour. So, if I punch in at 8:55 for my 9am shift, it rounds it to 9am, and I don't get paid for those 5 minutes. Not a lot, I know, but over time it can add up.
If I'm 5 minutes late (and I'm rarely late) it also rounds it to 9am, so my pay isn't docked - but if I were frequently late, even by just a couple minutes, I'd get in trouble.
But if I'm more than 7 minutes late, it rounds it to 15 minutes, so if I'm 8 minutes late I lose 15 minutes of pay.
And if I happen to be early, and clock in at say, 8:45, my manager just manually adjusts it so that I only get paid for my scheduled shift.
So basically, I pretty much have to work at least a few minutes for free every shift, because I have to be there by or before the start of my shift so I can start work at the scheduled time. And we can get in trouble for being even a couple minutes late if it happens often.
Is this even legal? I mean, it seems like they should have to pay you for all time you work, but I don't know, I'm not a lawyer.
I'm in Illinois, if that matters.

glhansen

January 23 2013, 18:38:02 UTC 4 months ago

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I think rounding time clocks are pretty common, but manually adjusting the time seems pretty suspicious.

At my work there's a big "drive to zero" for overtime. They've gotten picky about that. But whenever we clock in, and whenever we clock out, we get paid for it. I don't know if it's policy or law, but they can't just decide to adjust it. What they will do is talk to a worker about clocking out early on the next shift or two. Depending on need-- sometimes feces occurs, and they'll put up with necessary overtime. I suppose there could come a point when it enters the usual disciplinary process. But we'd still be paid for the time punched in.

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