The California Labor Commissioner recently issued citations against a California-based warehouse for overtime violations and failing to provide compliant meal breaks.
The citations involve close to 900 employees and total more than $1 million.
The case revolved around a half-million square foot warehouse in which the hundreds of employees worked, but only had access to three time clocks.
This lack of time clocks resulted in long lines as dozens, if not hundreds, of employees had to wait to punch in and out.
In order to punch in on time, employees had to come early to work, time for which they were not compensated.
Similarly, when employees took their meal and rest periods, they were also required to stand in long lines, which cut into their break and forced them to return early.
To make matters worse, the Labor Commissioner found the company had altered records to reflect that employees had indeed been allotted their full lunch and break periods.
To avoid time-keeping trouble, employers are encouraged to follow the following best-practices:

1. Provide easy access to punch clocks.
   Hourly employees must be compensated for all hours on the job.
   
2. Consider providing meal periods longer than 30 minutes to ensure they are at least 30 minutes.
   
3. Maintain accurate and complete records of the start and end times of employee meal periods.
   This even applies to employees who work in the field or do not have access to time clocks.
   
4. In order to reduce the potential for interruptions during breaks and lunches, encourage employees to take their meal and rest periods away from their desks.
   
5. Employees with duty-free meal periods should never be discouraged from leaving the premises.
   
6. For employees who work in the field, or those without direct supervision, be sure they have realistic opportunities to take duty-free rest and meal periods.
   
7. Employees should be provided the means to report circumstances that prevent them from being relieved of all duty.
   Similarly, timekeeping policies should be updated to clearly prohibit off-the-clock work.
   Provide a means for employees to report circumstances in which they worked off-the-clock.
   
8. Clear procedures should be established in the event an employee fails to report a missed meal or rest period.
   
9. If an employee does work through a break or meal period, payroll practices have to accommodate the prompt payment in a manner similar to the way overtime is paid each pay period.
   
10. Managers and supervisors must be trained and educated on strict meal and rest period compliance.
    This includes not interrupting employee time or requesting work to be performed during breaks.
    

Wage and hour compliance is one of the most complex areas of employment law.
Especially in California, labor laws differ in many regards to their federal counterparts.
And as experience has shown, California is the most litigious state in the country.
Employers are strongly encouraged to review these ten general guidelines and to contact an employment law expert to review their current policies and practices.