U.S. Department of Labor Launches Timesheet App to Help Employees Independently Track Hours

The U.S. Department of Labor announced yesterday the launch of its first smartphone app - a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed.  The app also includes links to web pages of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division.  The press release reads as follows:

Available in English and Spanish, users conveniently can track regular work hours, break time and any overtime hours for one or more employers.  This new technology is significant because, instead of relying on their employers’ records, workers now can keep their own records.  This information could prove invaluable during a Wage and Hour Division investigation when an employer has failed to maintain accurate employment records. 

The free app is currently compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch.  The Labor Department will explore updates that could enable similar versions for other smartphone platforms, such as Android and BlackBerry, and other pay features not currently provided for, such as tips, commissions, bonuses, deductions, holiday pay, pay for weekends, shift differentials and pay for regular days of rest.

For works without a smartphone, the Wage and Hour Division has a printable work hours calendar in English and Spanish to track rate of pay, work start and stop times, and arrival and departure times.  The calendar also includes easy-to-understand information about workers’ rights and how to file a wage violation complaint.

Of course, we had to try out the app to see how it worked.  The app permits an employee to “start work”, “stop work”, and “start break”.  It also permits the employee to go in and manually edit the start time, stop time or break time.  When you complete a “timesheet” you can review a summary, see a calculation of your pay, and then email the “timesheet.”  The ability to freely edit your “time” may explain the DOL “disclaimer” that is sent along with the email:

This App is designed as a reference tool. It does not include every possible situation encountered in the workplace. Some situations not addressed in this App may yield a different result in the calculation of total pay. These include, but are not limited to, situations where, for example, the employee is not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act or is exempt from the minimum wage and/or overtime pay requirements of the FLSA. Further, the conclusions reached by this App rely on the accuracy of the data provided by the user. Therefore, DOL make no express or implied guarantees as to the accuracy of this information.

(Emphasis added.)  While I give the DOL credit for staying on top of technology, from my perspective as a management-side employment lawyer, this DOL initiative is scary.  It gives employees an incredibly easy way to create (and freely edit) their own version of their time records without any oversight or ability for the company to verify the accuracy of the records.  I also wondered when I read this press release what will happen if the iPhone the employee uses is company-issued?  Can the employer control what apps the employee downloads on a company-issued iPhone?  Presumably, yes (especially if the employer has a policy that says so).  But if the employer prohibits the employee from downloading the DOL timesheet app on a company-issued iPhone, will the DOL see this as retaliatory?  Additionally, what evidentiary issues will this raise in wage and hour disputes – will we be litigating “dueling timesheets?”  It will be interesting to see how this issue plays out.  Your thoughts?