California Time-Keeping Policy

Purpose/Objective

To comply with its legal obligations to maintain accurate time records and to ensure that employees are paid for all hours worked, [Company Name] requires employees to accurately record their hours worked during each workday.

Eligibility

All [nonexempt] employees are required to accurately record hours worked.

Procedures

Unless otherwise notified, employees are required to accurately record their work time through the use of a time card, an electronic time-keeping system or a handwritten record. Employees are required to submit their time records promptly following the close of the pay period so that their time records can be reviewed by [their supervisors/other job title] before their paychecks are processed for the pay period. Employees are required to accurately record their work hours to ensure that they are paid for all hours worked as required by applicable law. “Hours worked” is defined by law as all time an employee is subject to the control of an employer, and includes all time that an employee is suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so.

[Optional: Employees may be asked to sign their time cards and confirm in writing that their time cards are accurate and that they have been relieved of all duty and otherwise provided all of their meal periods and rest breaks during a particular pay period, or in the alternative, to identify any meal periods or rest breaks that they have missed.]

At no time may any employee perform off-the-clock work or otherwise alter, falsify or manipulate any aspect of their time-keeping records to inaccurately reflect or hide hours worked, meal periods taken or time spent working during meal periods.

The obligation to accurately record all hours worked does not relieve employees of their obligations to obtain advance approval from [their supervisors/other job title] before working overtime or hours beyond the regular work schedule. Employees who work beyond their regularly scheduled work hours, including overtime or off-schedule hours, without prior authorization by [their supervisors/other job title] are subject to disciplinary action, which may include termination of employment.

Employees will be informed on their first day on the job whether they are required to record their work time by a time clock, a time sheet or some other method. Whatever the method of time-keeping, employees are expected to follow the established procedures in keeping an accurate record of hours worked.

Any changes or corrections to an employee’s time card or time record must be initialed by the employee and [his or her supervisor/other job title]. Under no circumstances may any employee punch or record another employee’s time card.

Employees with questions about this policy or their time records should contact [their supervisors /human resources/other job title].