Time Reporting for Hourly Staff

It is the policy of Dartmouth College ("Dartmouth") to pay its employees all time worked in compliance with applicable state and federal laws and consistent with Dartmouth policies and/or collective bargaining agreements.

This document describes:

• The time recording process for hourly employees;
• The responsibilities of employees, supervisors and approvers to ensure that employees are properly paid for all time worked; and
• The process for reporting problems related to the recording of employee time.

These procedures apply to all hourly staff employees. Additional time recording provisions may be applicable to bargaining unit members under their collective bargaining agreements Employees who are members of these bargaining units and who have questions or concerns about those provisions should discuss those questions or concerns with the representatives of their bargaining unit or with their Human Resources Business Partner.

1. DEFINITIONS
   1. Hourly Employee: An hourly staff employee (sometimes called a "non- exempt" employee) is one who is required to accurately record their time worked and be paid at least minimum wage and overtime in accordance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and applicable state law. Hourly employees are paid for all time worked in accordance with applicable laws and Dartmouth policy.
   2. Overtime: An hourly employee who works in excess of forty (40) hours within the workweek (as defined below) will be paid one and one-half (1½) times their regular (base) rate of pay, or a blended rate if multiple rates are in effect, in accordance with the FLSA. An employee will be paid for all overtime worked. Note: Employees working in states with statutes or regulations regarding the computing of overtime which differ from the computation in New Hampshire will be paid according to the applicable state law.
   3. Workweek: The payroll workweek is the seven (7) day period that begins at 12:00 AM on Sunday and ends at 11:59 PM on the following Saturday.
   4. Work Schedule: The employee's start and end times for daily work that have been established and approved by their supervisor.
   5. Meal Period: All employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours are expected to take a 30-minute meal break. For non-exempt employees, the meal break will be unpaid. Non-exempt employees who wish to work through their meal break must obtain advance authorization to do so from their supervisor.
   6. Unrecorded Work: Work that is performed but not documented by a time clock or web entry form. Unrecorded work includes, but is not limited to, the following:
      • Work performed before or after an employee's shift;
      • Work necessitated by an employment-related emergency that cannot be pre-approved by a supervisor;
      • Work performed at home; and
      • Work performed during a meal period.
   7. Employment-Related Emergency: Any work performed by an employee that they reasonably believe:
      • would normally be expected to be done and that is within the duties of their position description; is immediately required to accomplish the mission of Dartmouth and their Division, or to maintain the safety of any Dartmouth community member or visitor; and cannot be accomplished at a later time or be approved by the employee's supervisor or someone more senior to the employee.
   8. Time Clock or Web Entry Form: Time clock and web entry form are the primary methods that Dartmouth uses to capture and record the time of its hourly employees. The decision to use one or the other will be determined at the division level with input from departmental leaders. Employees will be notified which timekeeping system they should use.
   9. Approver: The person responsible for processing the approval of hours in the system. This person may or may not be the supervisor.
   10. Supervisor: The person responsible for the oversight of employees who report to them.
2. TIME AND ATTENDANCE PROCESS
   1. A non-exempt employee must do the following:
      • Record their start time when they begin work, usually at the start of their work schedule;
      • Record their meal break time begin and end times when they have taken the appropriate meal break;
      • Record their end time when they have completed working for the day;
      • Record their benefit hours, such as Personal Leave or Vacation Time, when those types of hours apply.
   2. Recording Time Using a Time Clock: An employee may be instructed to use one or more time clocks to record time worked. The employee will use their ID badge to swipe the clock and will then follow the prompts displayed on the clock to complete the time recording process.
   3. Recording Time Using the Web Entry Form: An employee may be instructed to use the web entry form to record time worked. The employee will logon to the web entry form using their NetID and password and follow the prompts displayed on the webpage to complete the time recording process.
   4. Other Timekeeping Methods: In rare instances and after consultation with Human Resources and the Payroll Department, an employee who cannot use either time collection method will be provided with an alternative timekeeping method and will be given instructions by their supervisor about how to accurately record time worked.
   5. Recording Time Away: An employee using a time clock, or the web entry form must report to their supervisor and approver (if they are not the same individual) any scheduled or unscheduled absence from work, including but not limited to, sick time, personal time, vacation, bereavement, jury duty, or time away from the workplace to serve as a witness.
3. EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES

All hourly employees are responsible for the following:

• An employee is required to accurately record all time worked through the approved timekeeping system.
• An employee acknowledges that by swiping a clock or entering time using the web entry form, they are attesting that the entry is accurate and correct, and that any false entry or omission is grounds for corrective action, up to and including termination of employment.
• An employee entering time using the web entry form is required to enter time as time has occurred on a day-to-day basis. An employee must not pre-populate time in advance, nor may they defer time input and post-populate time subsequent to. However, it is acceptable to pre-populate off-days such as Vacation, Personal Day, Floating Holiday, Winter-break, Bereavement, etc.
• An employee is required to follow their assigned work schedule unless changes are approved in advance by their supervisor or unless there is an employment-related emergency that requires the employee to work outside of that schedule. If an employment-related emergency necessitates that an employee work prior to signing in or after signing out, the employee using a time clock must report the time worked to their supervisor and approver (if they are not the same individual) within twenty-four (24) hours or in all cases before the end of the workweek so that they can be paid for the time worked. An employee using the web entry form must update their time record prior to the end of the pay period.
• All employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours are expected to take a 30-minute meal break. For non-exempt employees, the meal break will be unpaid. Non-exempt employees who wish to work through their meal break must obtain advance authorization to do so from their supervisor. Employees will be paid for all hours worked.
• An employee must not request or permit an unauthorized employee to report their time worked and must not report time worked for another employee unless authorized to do so.
• An employee must not falsify or incorrectly report the time worked of another employee or instruct/advise another employee to falsify or incorrectly report time. Any of these actions are grounds for corrective action, up to and including termination.
• An employee who has knowledge of another employee's falsification, incorrect, or improper recording of time worked must report this information immediately to a supervisor, Human Resources or Payroll. This call can be anonymous, and the reporting employee will be protected from any retaliation.
• An employee who has good faith knowledge that a supervisor or approver is violating any part of this Policy must report it to the Compliance and Ethics Hotline by calling 888-497-0516 or filling out a report on the Hotline website: https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/35378/index.html. This call can be anonymous, and the reporting employee will be protected from any retaliation.
• An employee must review any changes made to their recorded time and sign or initial each change.

4. SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITIES

All supervisors are responsible for the following:

• Supervisors must ensure that employees are paid for all time worked.
• Supervisors must not falsify, alter, or incorrectly report time worked by an employee, or instruct/advise an employee to do the same. Any of these actions are grounds for corrective action, up to and including termination.
• Supervisors must ensure that employees entering time using the web entry form are entering time as time has occurred on a day-to-day basis. An employee must not pre-populate time in advance, nor may they defer time input and post-populate time subsequent to. However, it is acceptable to pre-populate off-days such as Vacation, Personal Day, Floating Holiday, Winter-break, Bereavement, etc. Supervisors should not expect employees to log in and record hours on days they are not expected to work.
• Supervisors must encourage that an employee who has worked 5 consecutive hours has a meal period free from any work responsibilities.
• Supervisors must ensure that an employee who misses a meal period or whose meal period is interrupted is paid for the meal period.
• Supervisors must ensure that they review all timekeeping records and submit corrections for any errors or omissions before they are submitted for payment or after payment, if necessary.
• Supervisors must discuss and document any changes to the timekeeping record created by an employee and have the employee record their consent to the change. If the employee disputes the accuracy of any time adjustments, for wage payment purposes, the dispute must be resolved in favor of the employee absent indisputable evidence that the adjusted time is correct. Under no circumstances may an employee be paid for less time than they actually worked.  Supervisors should report disputes that are not resolved to Human Resources.
• Supervisors must complete Employee Time Management training upon hire or promotion into a management role and on a periodic basis, thereafter, as required by Human Resources and Payroll.

5. APPROVER RESPONSIBILITIES

All approvers are responsible for the following:

• Approvers are expected to follow the standard reporting protocols to notify supervisors of recorded employee time in advance of approving that time.
• Approvers must not alter time worked by an employee without written authorization from the employee's supervisor.
• Approvers must ensure that they make any authorized adjustments to timekeeping records to correct any errors or omissions before they are submitted for payment or after payment, if necessary.
• Approvers must not falsify or incorrectly report times worked by an employee or instruct/advise an employee to do the same. Any of these actions are grounds for corrective action, up to and including termination.
• Approvers must follow up with Supervisors to ensure that proper documentation exists for any changes to the timekeeping record created by an employee. In the absence of proper documentation, Approvers should process the payment based on the record created by the employee.
• Approvers, who are not the supervisor, are not expected to use their role to address concerns about the irregularities and/or errors in another employee's time records. Approvers should report those concerns to management and process payments based on the records available to the Approver.
• Approvers must complete Employee Time Management training upon hire or promotion into an approver role and on a periodic basis, thereafter, as required by Human Resources and Payroll.

6. REPORTING ERRORS AND OBTAINING MORE INFORMATION

An employee has the opportunity at any time to review their timekeeping records through web access or by contacting their supervisor or approver.

If an employee has a question about a deduction from pay or if their pay does not accurately reflect the time that they worked, they may contact the Payroll Department to pursue resolution.

An employee or supervisor who believes that the time reporting procedures are being wrongly implemented or applied should call Human Resources or the Compliance and Ethics Hotline by calling 888-497-0516 or filling out a report on the Hotline website: https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/35378/index.html.  This call can be anonymous.

7. NO RETALIATION

Neither Dartmouth nor a member of the Dartmouth community will retaliate against an individual (i) who in good faith reports an allegation of a violation of the time reporting procedure; (ii) who in good faith reports an allegation of a violation of a federal, state, or local wage and hour law; or (iii) who cooperates in the investigation of any such report.

Any employee who is found to have retaliated against another employee for any of the reasons listed above will be subject to corrective action, up to and including termination of employment.

8. CORRECTIVE ACTION

References to Corrective Action in this document follow Dartmouth College's Corrective Action policy located at: https://policies.dartmouth.edu/policy/corrective-action

Listed below are examples of some of the types of behavior that are not permitted and that may constitute the basis for corrective action, up to and including termination of employment. The following list is not intended to be all-inclusive: