Does Timekeeping software have to record actual time worked?
My employer requires employees to clock in on a time keeping system. The system does not record the exact time the employee arrives or departs. If we arrive and start working at 8:54 am it clocks us in at our scheduled shift start time of 9 am. If we depart at 5:05 it clocks us out at our scheduled shift end time of 5 pm. A few minutes before and after shift don't seem like a big deal but it adds up over time. I know rounding is permissible if the rounding averages out but since this time keeping software has been implemented all the employees are losing a few minutes here and there both before and after shift.
The solution given to us is that if the situation described above occurs we are to notify the person in charge of scheduling via email. This would require every single employee to email this person twice a day every day as we never start exactly at the scheduled shift time or get out exactly at the end of a shift. We are required to perform work activities in order to be ready to open and close our places of work every day. We are scheduled for our shifts to end at the same time the building is supposed to close so there is at least 5 minutes of extra work spent doing closing procedures and locking up. My question is-is it legal for the system to log us in and out at the scheduled shift times instead of when we actually arrive and depart from work and also is their solution of having us email every instance this happens OK? I thought it was the employers responsibility to keep accurate records of time worked?