EMPLOYEE WAGE AND HOUR RECORDS

I.          NONEXEMPT EMPLOYEE RECORDS

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and implementing federal wage and hour regulations require that an employer’s records contain specific information for a nonexempt employee:

  • name in full (used for Social Security recordkeeping purposes) and, on the same record, an employee’s identifying symbol or number if used in place of name on any time, work, or payroll records;
  • home address with zip code;
  • date of birth for child labor regulatory purposes, if employee is under 19 years of age;
  • gender of employee (to comply with equal pay provisions of the FLSA);
  • occupation in which employed;
  • time of day and day of week on which an employee’s workweek begins (if all employees workweek begins at the same time on the same day, a single notation of time of day and beginning of workweek will suffice);
  • regular hourly rate of pay for any workweek in which overtime compensation is due, including:
  • an explanation of pay by indicating the monetary amount paid on a per hour, per day, per week, per piece, commission on sales, or other basis; and
  • the amount and nature of each payment that is excluded from the regular rate;
  • hours worked each workday and the total hours worked each workweek;
  • total daily or weekly straight-time earnings or wages due for hours worked during the workday or workweek, not counting premium overtime compensation;
  • total premium pay for overtime hours (excludes straight-time earnings for overtime hours referred to immediately above);
  • total additions to or deductions from wages paid each pay period, including employee purchase orders or wage assignments;
  • in individual employee records, the dates, amounts and nature of the items that make up the total additions and deductions;
  • total wages paid each pay period;
  • date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment; and
  • if an employee is working under a special certificate permitting an employer to pay a subminimum wage, records must document such fact.

II.        EXEMPT EMPLOYEE RECORDS

Federal Wage and Hour regulations are clear that employment of an individual who is exempt under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not exempt entirely an employer from keeping records on him or her under the FLSA. Records are required to determine whether the employer has met the necessary conditions in classifying an employee as exempt. If an employee qualifies as exempt because he or she is classified as an executive, administrative or professional employee, the employer must keep the following information on the employee:

  • name;
  • home address;
  • date of birth, if under 19 (to comply with child labor provisions);
  • gender (to comply with equal pay provisions);
  • occupation;
  • time of day and day of week on which the employee’s workweek begins;
  • total wages paid each pay period; and
  • date of payment and the pay period covered by each payment.

Just because an employee is not paid by the hour, an employer should not keep track of the number of hours the employee puts in at work. Doing so could lend an appearance to a state or federal wage-hour auditor that the employer bases pay on the number of hours worked. The effect of this could mean that the employee was not exempt and that the employer may then be held liable for overtime due to the employee.

Compliance Handbook Search

STAY CONNECTED

Nebraska Bankers Association

233 South 13th Street, Suite 700
Lincoln, NE 68508
​402-474-1555
​Digital Millennium Copyright Act Policy