Recordkeeping for Employee Compensation Purposes: Federal

Author: Nicole M. Amato, Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, P.C.

Summary

• The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to keep certain records about employees' compensation.
• Employers must maintain and preserve accurate records of basic personal information, wages and hours worked for all nonexempt employees. See Recordkeeping Requirements for Nonexempt Employees.
• Many of the recordkeeping requirements for nonexempt employees also apply to exempt employees. However, employers are excused from keeping certain records for some exempt employees. And there are sometimes additional recordkeeping requirements for certain exempt employees. See Recordkeeping Requirements for Exempt Employees.
• Other recordkeeping requirements come into play when an employer claims a credit toward the minimum wage, when an employee's overtime pay is calculated using certain alternative methods or when a public employee receives compensatory time off. See Other Recordkeeping Requirements.
• The FLSA does not dictate any particular form in which records must be kept. But there are requirements about how long records must be kept, their availability for inspection, the use of time clocks and other issues. In addition, there are many best practices of which employers should be aware. See How to Keep Records.