Hear No Unreported Time, See No Unreported Time

Examining The Role Of Employer Policies In Off-The-Clock Claims

Some courts have read a safeguard into federal wage and hour law that can protect employers from liability for working-off-the-clock claims, believing you should not be responsible for unpaid overtime or minimum wage if you didn't know, and should not have known, that an employee was working off the clock. But what does it mean under the law whether an employer knew or should have known? And how is this analysis affected if you have a policy requiring employees to report all time worked, even if outside of normal work hours and while not clocked in? There is no single definitive answer, but several courts around the country provided valuable guidelines on how you might increase your chances of successfully defending against an-off-the-clock lawsuit.