Legal Question in Employment Law in Georgia
I am supposed to be at work at 8am. One day I came in at 7:40 because I had a doctor's appt and knew I would be gone longer than I was supposed to be on my lunch break and wanted to make up the time. When I told HR about my doctors appointment and also that I had clocked in and started working 20 minutes early she said "oh you wont get that time, you must clock in 31 minutes early to be considered early. If you don't clock in 31 minutes early then it's just like clocking in on time". Is that legal?
2 Answers from Attorneys
No it is not legal, if your employer is covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Assuming such coverage, employers are required to compensate employees for all time that the employee is "suffered to work." That means all time that the employee actually performs work, unless it is a "de minimus" amount. As a general rule, 15 minutes or more in a work week is more than "de minimus" and the employer is required to compensate the employee for such time.
As an addition, you have at least 2 years, and (in most cases) 3 years from the date of the paycheck that should have compensated you for the work but didn't, to bring the lawsuit in federal court. The employer is required to pay your attorneys fees and costs if it loses. You must keep records to assist in proving your case, but the employer is required by law to maintain accurate records of the time you actually worked, your hourly rate, and your pay (including overtime pay) for each work week.We do a slew of these cases.
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