Timesheet Fraud: Easily Track and Manage Work Hours and Overtime

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) outlines comprehensive overtime provisions that must be followed by employers. Unless they are exempt, employees that are covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay.¹

According to the Act, there is no limit on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in a workweek and overtime pay is not required for work on weekends, holidays or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days. The Act also applies on a workweek basis, not by pay period. An employee's workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods. Specific to the transportation industry, the FLSA provides a motor carrier overtime exemption for employees who are regulated by the Department of Transportation.¹

While employers, human resources professionals and even fleet managers are most likely very familiar with the overtime guidelines outlined in the FLSA, they may not realize that field service management software can be invaluable to help manage complex time records, and reduce both timecard fraud and unnecessary overtime costs.

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Streamline Overtime Tracking and Reduce Payroll Fraud

On September 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule to make 1.3 million American workers eligible for overtime pay. The various exemptions and provisions that are covered under the final FLSA rule are quite lengthy; it’s highly recommended that you check out the FAQs on the Department of Labor website, and if you're unsure about what any of this means, seek legal counsel – better to be safe than sorry and incur fines. 

It's also important to consider whether you have an effective time tracking system to manage overtime and verify that employees' timesheets are accurate and overtime hours aren’t being fudged. 

Incorrect timesheets and overpayments can put a serious strain on a business's bottom line for any business looking to improve profits margins. Field service management software has the capabilities to help reduce timesheet fraud and high overtime costs.  

Because all employees and vehicles are tracked, fleet managers and operations leaders can run reports on actual hours a vehicle is in operation, actual daily start and finish times, hours and days worked, and average daily hours and weekly totals, for example. These reports are generated with a few clicks of the mouse, and because it can be used as an electronic timesheet, it removes the risk of inaccuracies, whether intentional or not. 

You can help reduce overtime pay and timesheet fraud when you rely on accurate, near-real time data, and immediately catch human error and inflated overtime hours, which means you can reduce operating costs. To learn how your peers are using fleet management software to better manage their operations download the 2021 Fleet Technology Trends Report.  

This post is not intended to provide legal advice on the FLSA rule.  Please consult a licensed professional attorney to obtain advice where appropriate. 

Sources:

¹https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime