There are several ways to prove how much overtime you have worked. The easiest and the best way is to retain copies of your paystub, which should show the total number of hours you worked each day and each week during the pay period. If the pay stub shows that you worked 50 hours during the week, the 10 hours are obviously overtime. If you are not paid 1.5 times for those 10 hours, you have an easy case.
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Proving Fraud during Logging In & Logging Out
In a few instances, the company “audits” overtime hours by reducing the number of hours recorded electronically during the login and the logout process. This is absolutely illegal. The best way to prove this fraud is to take a picture of the login clock and the logout clock. There should be no difference between the times recorded compared to the pay stub. If there is, other than a minuscule difference, it’s a fraud.
Keep a Log of Your Hours
If the company does not require the employee to log in and out, the burden of proof as to the number of hours its employees worked goes to the employer. In this case, you should keep a log of your hours. If the employee has kept a daily record such as a diary of the hours worked each day, the employee will prevail.
What Happens if No Record Has Been Kept
In the absence of any record by either side, the employee should convince co-workers to testify as to the hours they observed you working. The employer will probably get employees to testify against you to curry favor with the employer. Then it becomes a question of credibility, which means who made the best impression to the jury.
For more information, or if you would like to discuss your case confidentially with our wage & hour attorney, contact Alan Burton Newman, PLC today.