$3.8 Million Disney Fine Underscores Importance of Timekeeping

When businesses run afoul of labor provisions, the fines can be sizeable.

Recently, Walt Disney Co. reached an agreement with the Department of Labor (DOL) to pay out $3.8 million to 16,339 employees. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Florida-based Disney Vacation Club Management Corp. and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc. failed to observe the the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime, minimum wage and record keeping provisions.

Do you employ hourly staff members? Are you in compliance with all DOL standards? DOL officials say that the illegal Disney practices are fairly widespread. In a DOL press release, Daniel White, District Director for the Wage and Hour Division in Jacksonville, says:

“These violations are not uncommon and are found in other industries, as well.” 

These are some of Disney’s specific violations:

• Failure to pay employees for required pre-shift responsibilities
• Failure to pay employees for required post-shift duties
• Allowing an employee’s hourly rate to temporarily fall below minimum wage because of a nonelective paycheck deduction for uniform rates

Even a Couple of Minutes Count

Keep in mind that the pre- or post-shift assignments for the Disney employees could have only taken a couple minutes. If a team member is supposed to change into a uniform (or costume in the Disney case) before their scheduled shift, they must be paid for this time. Do you require your team members to get their workstations ready, or perform other responsibilities before their designated shift start times? In a Forbes article, Daniel White advises: 

“Employers must accurately track and pay for all the hours their employees work."

Are You Prepared for an Audit? Horizon Has Tools to Protect You

If you are using pen and paper time and attendance systems, it’s almost impossible to accurately track employee hours. TimeWorksPlus, TimeSimplicity, and TimeWorksTouch make up the Workforce Management Suite. Workforce Management Suite solves your compliance headaches.

1. Track employee time to the minute
2. Easy clock in/out for offsite employees
3. Automatically create audit-ready reports

Because our suite is fully integrated, you won’t have any problems getting all of your time and attendance, scheduling and payroll data synced together accurately.

Contact us today for a demo and learn how Workforce Management Suite can help you avoid the expenses of a labor audit.