Legal Question in Employment Law in Virginia

As a payroll specialist in the state of Virginia, our agency has serious problems with getting employees or supervisors to submit timesheets on time. We have a schedule set each year listing the dates and times that timesheets must be received. Our payroll is processed on a bi-weekly schedule, and we pay both exempt and non-exempt employee's.

Each pay period, I make significant effort in contacting any employee and their supervisor if a timesheet is missing. There have previously been no consequences for not turning timesheets in on time, and we typically hold the entire payroll run until all timesheets are received.

At a recent payroll law seminar, this was discussed and the speaker stated that if a timesheet is not received to verify hours worked, we can wait to process that employee's pay until the next pay cycle - when a timesheet would likely be submitted. When asked if it made a difference in whether the employee was exempt or non-exempt, the answer was that it did not matter. It was also stated, that it didn't matter if it was the fault of the employee for not turning in the timesheet or the supervisor who failed to turn it into the payroll office. Another example excuse - I sent in through interoffice mail - so it's now lost somewhere in the mail system.

Before we do implement something that does not comply with the law, can you clarify what an employer CAN do when a timesheet is either not received (or not received on time) to process that employee's payroll?

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