Partner
Many people call us to ask about whether they can get paid when their employers make them work without punching the clock. Their main concern is usually that they did not keep records of their off-the-clock hours so they think they can’t “prove” their work. But the law governing wages and hours (the Fair Labor Standards Act), does not require an employee to keep detailed records; rather, the employer is mandated to keep records of hours worked. Since off-the-clock hours are not maintained by the employer as required by the law, then the employee can just testify as to the approximate amount of hours he worked and explain a few tasks that he did while working off-the-clock. Unless the employer can specifically disprove the employee’s testimony (which is difficult), then the court will award the employee the unpaid overtime even though the hours are only an estimate. And remember, your employer can not give you “comp time” off instead of overtime at time-and-a-half your hourly pay. “Comp time” is forbidden by the law. Call one of our unpaid overtime lawyers if you have been forced to work off-the-clock.