A brief refresher: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), says that for each hour a non-exempt employee works over 40 in a single workweek, an employer must pay that employee 1.5 times their regular rate of pay. Sound complicated? It can be, and that's where the app comes in. By entering all time actually worked during a workweek, the employee gets a contemporary time record that can provide evidence in court that an employer is not paying overtime. The app even calculates the amount owed based the employees regular rate of pay.

This app is good news for employees who suspect their employers are violating the law. Download the app and see where you stand. You might be surprised.

First, employers who do not keep careful records are more vulnerable to wage and hour litigation for recordkeeping violations under the plain language of the Ohio Constitution. Ohio voters passed the Ohio Fair Minimum Wage Amendment—Article II, section 34a—in 2006. This constitutional amendment states: “An employer shall maintain a record of the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked and each amount paid an employee for a period of not less than three years following the last date the employee was employed. Such information shall be provided without charge to an employee or person acting on behalf of an employee upon request.” Further reporting requirements are codified in Ohio Revised Code § 4111, et seq. The result: Employers must keep complete hourly records of time worked for their employees. Failing to keep records or provide them to their employees in a timely matter provides an independent cause of action under Ohio law.

Even more significantly, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to proffer clear evidence in an FLSA action to rebut employee testimony. This has enormous consequences for employers in a collective action context, where multiple employees may testify that they worked unpaid overtime. The specific requirements for employers are located in the United States Department of Labor (DOL) regulations at 29 C.F.R. § 516. Moreover, under longstanding precedent—the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co., 328 U.S. 680 (1946), which interprets 29 U.S.C. §211(c)—the burden is on employers to provide precise records or accounting to defeat employees testimony as to hours worked under the FLSA.

In sum, records are the key to winning or losing an FLSA case. Employers are wise to consult a wage and hour attorney to make sure their record keeping practices do not violate applicable laws. Employees who believe they are owed unpaid overtime, misclassified, or have had their FLSA rights violated should consult an attorney as well.