An employee is entitled to payment of all wages earned for time worked. However, some employers practice rounding when calculating an employee’s hours for purposes of paying wages. For example, an employee may clock out at 5:27 p.m., but an employer may round the time down to 5:25 p.m. or to the nearest increment. Typical rounding practices, include, but are not limited to the following situations:
- Rounding an employee’s time to the nearest tenth of a minute;
- Rounding an employee’s time to the nearest fifteenth of a minute;
- Rounding punch in times in favor of an employee, but rounding punch out times in favor of the employer; and
- Rounding all time card punches in favor of an employee.
Up until recently, California had no specific law addressing employer rounding practices. However, in 2012, the California Court of Appeals took up the issue of rounding in Candy Shops, Inc. v. Super. Ct. The Court held that if a rounding policy is neutral, “the practice is proper under California law because its net effect is to permit employers to efficiently calculate hours worked without imposing any burden on employees.”
Based upon the aforementioned, an employer’s rounding policy must not consistently favor the employer. In other words, after reviewing the rounding policy as a whole, the amount of time an employee loses due to rounding cannot be disproportionate to the time gained as a result of the particular rounding policy.
If you believe you have been subjected to a rounding policy that violates California law, you should immediately contact a qualified employment law lawyer in Los Angeles. The Law Offices of Jual F. Reyes employs experienced employment law lawyers to represent employees faced with illegal rounding practices. Contact the firm today for your free consultation.
