contractor success lar format or any specific method of track-ing employee time so, unless your state has more specific requirements, you can generally use whatever method suits your organization. The key is to make sure that the records are complete, accurate, contain all of the informa-tion required by law and can be produced on short notice should you need to respond to a lawsuit or government investigation. 4. Off the clock work Even the most thorough time and payroll records won’t help if your employees can convince the DOL or a court that they have been working “off the clock.” Under federal law, employees are entitled to be paid for any time that they are “suf-fered or permitted” to work. Work need not be requested or even authorized by the employer. So long as management knows, or rea-sonably should know that work is being performed, the company is generally required to pay up. Off the clock claims frequently arise when employees are given overly ambitious quo-tas to complete in a specified amount of time or where supervisors are overly aggressive in asserting a policy of no overtime. Insisting on productivity and disciplin-ing employees who fail to meet reason-able expectations is legal; refusing to pay employees for hours that they actually worked is not. What can you do if your company is mak-ing any of these mistakes? The good news is that recognizing the problem yourself puts you far ahead of the game in avoiding a worst-case scenario government investigation or lawsuit. Remember, though, that wage and hour law is like dentistry: Consult someone who knows what they are doing rather than trying to fix the problem yourself. The Voice of the IAQ Industry Accurate recordkeeping can save you considerable time and money. And, address the situation promptly because your problems will only become more painful and expensive the longer you let them go untreated. CM Bill Pokorny is a partner at the labor and employment law firm Franczek Radelet (www.Franczek.com) in Chicago. Pokorny concen-trates his practice on litigation and counseling in areas including wage and hour law, discrimination, disabilities, ERISA and employee benefits, employ-ment contracts, covenants not to compete, wrong-ful discharge, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and labor relations. He is co-author of the firm’s Wage & Hour Insights at www.WageHourInsights.com. Pokorny can be reached at [email protected]. A Training com IAQ Training Institute LLC Circle Product Information no. 251 on page 32 48 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • October 2011
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