Wage and hour laws can pose enormous problems for employers. These laws are widely misunderstood by many employers, and the liability for mistakes can be enormous.  For employees, these laws offer protection from employers who seek to cut costs by failing to pay workers what is required by law.

However, on May 9, 2011, the US Department of Labor (DOL) just made it easier for employees to impose liability on their employers for mistakes or deliberate violations under the wage and hour laws. In a short press release, the DOL announced the launch of a free smartphone app, for use on an iPhone or iPod Touch, which allows employees to track hours worked for themselves, thus making it easier to prove hours worked and possibly overtime owed.

The app is available in Spanish and English and is available for download from the homepage of the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor.  The app makes it simple and easy for workers to track their rate of pay, work start and stop times, and arrival and departure times. The DOL stated that it is exploring updates that would enable the app to also work on other smartphone platforms, such as the Android and BlackBerry.

The press release can be found at http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/WHD20110686.htm

The app can be downloaded at http://www.dol.gov/whd/

Employers are strongly urged to have a thorough evaluation of all of their wage and hour policies, including employee classifications, to avoid common but very costly violations of wage and hour laws. For more information about such a review, please contact our office.