MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

FLSA case: Staffers working from home must track their own hours

Dan Wisniewski
by Dan Wisniewski
December 14, 2012
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

A new ruling may finally clear up a telecommuting wage-and-hour issue that’s frequently stumped HR pros.

Here are the details of the case:
Frank Brown worked as a customer service operations analyst for ScriptPro, a company that develops, manufactures, markets and sells automated prescription drug dispensing systems and related software.
Brown was far from the ideal employee — his 2007-2008 performance review noted that he was “argumentative and abusive” toward co-workers, was belligerent to customers over the phone and made colleagues uncomfortable when he stared at them as he walked by his cubicle.
Several months after his review, Brown asked his supervisor for paid time off for the upcoming birth of his second child. He said he’d worked about 80 hours from home in the preceding four months in order to take time off when his child arrived.
The sticking point: Brown didn’t record the time he worked from home in the company’s timekeeping system. How and when to report time was outlined in the company’s handbook.
Brown was given some time off and then returned to work. When he asked for some more time off to go to a doctor’s appointment with his wife, his manager refused. They got in a shouting match.
Brown was fired two days for “unresolved, previously discussed performance problems.”
He then turned around and sued, claiming, among other things, that the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to pay him for the 80 hours he worked at home before he was fired.

‘Uncontroverted evidence?’ Don’t think so

A lower court found “uncontroverted evidence” that Brown had worked overtime, including testimony from Brown’s wife.
But in the end, the district court sided with the company.
Why? Brown was unable to show the amount of OT he worked “by justifiable or reasonable inference.”
Brown chose not to enter the hours he worked into the company’s timekeeping system. In court, Brown argued that it was the company who was responsible for keeping track of the amount of OT worked.
But the court found that ScriptPro kept accurate records, and that employees could access the timekeeping software from home.
Brown was required by company policy to add in his OT hours, yet he failed to do so — which was not the company’s fault:

Under these circumstances, where the employee fails to notify the employer through the established overtime record-keeping system, the failure to pay overtime is not an FLSA violation.

Case closed.
The takeaway: Now HR pros have judicial confirmation that employees who work from home are responsible for keeping track of their own hours — as long as companies can show they’ve set up an accurate timekeeping system.
The case is Brown v. ScriptPro, LLC.

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • HR Technology
  • Performance Management
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation & Payroll
  • Policy & Culture
  • Staff Administration
  • Wellness & Safety
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader