$3.8 Million Disney Fine Underscores Importance of Accurate Timekeeping

DOL compliance systems South Jordan

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

Recently, Walt Disney Co. reached an agreement with the Department of Labor to pay out $3.8 million to 16,339 employees. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division concluded that Florida-based Disney Vacation Club Management Corp. and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc. failed to comply with 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 regulations? DOL officials say that the illegal Disney practices are fairly widespread.

“These violations are not uncommon and are found in other industries, as well.” -Daniel White, District Director for the Wage and Hour Division in Jacksonville, Florida1

These are some of Disney’s specific violations:

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

Even a Couple Minutes Count

Keep in mind that the pre- or post-shift duties for the Disney team members could have only taken a couple minutes. If an employee 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 staff members to get their workstations ready, or perform other tasks before their designated shift start times?

“Employers must accurately track and pay for all the hours their employees work.” -Daniel White2

Are You Prepared for an Audit? SwipeClock LLC Has Tools to Protect You

If you are using paper timesheets, it’s almost impossible to accurately track worker 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 troubles getting all of your time and attendance, scheduling, and payroll data synced together accurately.

Call today for a demo and learn how Workforce Management Suite can help you avert the costs of a labor audit.

Sources:
1 “Disney Reaches Agreement on Pay Practices with the US Department of Labor,” US Department of Labor, March 17, 2017, https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20170317, accessed May 9, 2017
2Jennifer Calfas, “Disney Is Going to Pay $3.8 Million to Employees Who Were Charged for Their Costumes,” Fortune, March 17, 2017, http://fortune.com/2017/03/17/disney-labor-department-costumes-employees-charged/, accessed on May 9, 2017

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