“If I could save time in a bottle

The first thing that I'd like to do

Is to save every day 'til eternity passes away

Just to spend them with you”

-       Jim Croce

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) released an Android version of their timekeeping application for general public use. The purpose of this application is to allow employees to keep independent timekeeping records separate from the records of their employer. While an application is not necessary for an employee to keep their own records, the app allows for a convenient place to store and organize records of their working time to later check against their pay stubs.

DOL previously had an IOS application but published an Android version on June 30, 2022. The IOS version of the app was released over ten years ago and has been downloaded over 35,000 times prior to release of the Android version. While that seems like a lot, the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the most pervasive federal wage and hour law, covers 143+ million people which suggests that the 35,000 number is comparatively small.

DOL also suggests that this app can be used by employers to conveniently keep up-to-date timekeeping information in one place. The app can also be used to calculate employees’ wages and earnings over set periods of time and choose different pay frequency options when calculating wages.

An employer might have several concerns asking employees to use the app. One concern might be the privacy issues, in this day and age it seems that no application is safe from hackers with nefarious intent or pure mismanagement of information. However, the app does make it clear that DOL is not monitoring these hours and will not take the information stored on it to launch an investigation. Additionally, employers may be concerned that employees will make mistakes on their own time keeping system which would cause unnecessary wage disputes.

While all of those concerns are valid, the app does have significant benefits to employees and employers. The FLSA has recordkeeping requirements for employers. When employers violate the FLSA, they need to be able to point to their own records to show how much backpay they owe to employees. If they don’t have any records, or the employee disputes them, then a DOL investigator will interview employees and ask them to estimate their hours. This can lead to employee overestimating their hours worked and result in significant additional costs to the employer. The simple solution is to pay your employees correctly at the outset, but an employee may not have to estimate their hours and can provide their own timekeeping records contained on DOL’s app.

Regardless of how employers feel about the application, DOL believes that it can provide better access for an employee to their own timekeeping information. They will then be able to determine if their employer has made a mistake and can correct the mistake before significant harm is done. The FLSA provides for liquidated damages, not necessarily as a punitive measure but to repair some of the harm for missing out on wages for long periods of time. By pushing this application, mistakes might be caught earlier saving employers thousands of dollars.

You can download the application via the Apple App Store or on Google Play. To view DOL’s press release, please visit their website here: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20220630.