Human Resource Blog

Montana Attendance and Tardiness

	Attendance Management
Vacation Request / Response Form Weekly Time Sheets Attendance Calendar for 2008, 2009, or 2010 Annual Attendance Tracker Vacation Request Form for 2008, 2009, 2010 (Calendar) Detailed Absence Report

	Compensation
Employee Payroll Action Form W-4 Employee Withholding Allowance Cert. Employee Payroll Status/Change Form Direct Deposit Form Total Compensation Summary

In Montana, if an employee forgets to clock in, can the employer dock his pay?

Federal and Montana law both make it illegal for employers to deny pay to employees for the time they work. It would be unwise to even think of docking an employee’s pay on those occasions when she or he fails to punch in. Ultimately, it could be the employer who is the one facing discipline.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay workers for all time worked. The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor is very vigilant in pursuing violators. The result could be a fine of more than $10,000 as well as the back pay involved.

Not only Montana law, but also almost every other state minimum wage law in the nation, requires employees to be paid for the time they work. Both state and federal overtime laws must also be taken into account. If an employee works more than 40 hours in a week, but legitimately forgets to clock in, the employer could be violating overtime laws by docking that worker even for even 15 minutes’ worth of pay.

The problem here is that, as most employers realize, many workers have been known to cover their tracks, “forgetting” to punch in as a way to try to hide repeated tardiness.

There are ways to deal with this and demonstrate that it will not be tolerated.

The employer may find other ways of find out just when an employee came to work. For example, cash register records may show when the employee began working. Computer login times may also demonstrate a starting time. Employers may wish to ask an employee’s co-workers.

Another way around this dilemma is to set up a policy about failing to clock in. The employer would begin by displaying the written policy in a prominent location. Then, a verbal warning could follow the first occasion on which a worker failed to punch in. That may be followed by 3 written reprimands, then either termination or suspension for 1 to 3 days without pay after the third reprimand. In the latter case, termination could follow the 4^th violation. JH