Question: Can we require salaried, exempt employees to work a specific schedule and to clock in and out for any purpose other than to track paid time off? We have several exempt managers who need to be at work during the same hours that the employees they supervise are here. But, we are concerned that if we require the exempt employees to work a certain number of hours and keep track of the hours worked, we risk that they will be considered hourly, nonexempt employees entitled to overtime.
Answer: Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its implementing regulations do not specifically prohibit employers from requiring exempt employees to work a particular schedule or to track the hours they work. In fact, the Department of Labor (DOL), in the preamble to revised exemption regulations, stated that employers may require exempt employees to work a specific schedule and to record and track hours without affecting their exempt status. Despite what many people think, requiring a FLSA exempt employee to use a time clock is not a FLSA violation.
That said you should have a business reason to track exempt employee’s hours, such as recording hours for client billing, hours-based benefits/leave, etc. You will want to be sure that your time clock if connected to your pay system, does not reduce pay automatically in any way based on the hours worked (or reversely add OT to hrs). Also, make sure you apply this across ALL exempt positions, that means all the way up the ladder. If you do this for some exempt positions (or debts) but not for all you run all sorts of risk. Your exempt employees will not be happy about this change so have a communication plan ready to go and be prepared to answer the business needs questions.
In addition, reviewing your state’s law specifically to ensure what your state’s law reinforce.
For ex, Wisconsin law indicates that salaried exempt employees must still track their hours.