Daylight saving time is set to start Sunday, March 10. This will make for many a cranky worker next Monday morning, and lots of grumbling about needing extra coffee.
For most people, the time shift means adjusting various clocks around the house that aren’t smart enough to adjust themselves and losing an hour of beauty rest.
But people who work the graveyard shift might lose something else. What should employers know about timekeeping practices for workers whose shifts are affected by the time change?
With the time change coming, how do we calculate hours worked for the graveyard shift?
We have employees who start at 11 p.m. and finish at 7:30 a.m., for a total of eight work hours (with lunch). Our time clock still reflects only eight hours being worked.
Unless you have a computerized time clock that adjusts for daylight-saving time changes, employees may not be paid correctly. Employees must be paid for actual hours worked, regardless of what the time clock or time card reflects.
The twice-yearly time change at 2 a.m. generates questions about how to calculate hours worked in the spring when the clock is set forward and employees "lose" an hour and in the fall when the clock is set back and employees "gain" an hour.
Overnight Shifts
When employees work a shift that spans the time change, adjustments must be made either to the schedule or to the time-keeping method. According to the clock, employees working their usual shift in the spring actually work a seven-hour shift and only need to be paid for seven hours.
In the fall, the opposite occurs, and the employees work a nine-hour shift and must be paid for nine hours. Determining if overtime is owed for the fall shift involves several factors:
- Overtime is owed if all hours worked in one day exceeds eight.
- Determine whether the nine hours was worked within the company's established 24-hour workday. If the established workday is midnight to midnight, the hours may occur in two different workdays. In this example, the employee works one hour from 11 p.m. to midnight in the first workday. Then the employee works midnight to 2 a.m., or two hours on the second workday. The clock is then set back to 1 a.m., and the employee works 1 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. (with a half-hour lunch) for a total of another six hours, totaling eight actual hours in the second workday.
- If the employee does not work more than eight hours on the second workday, Sunday in this example, then no overtime will be owed.
- If the employee works more than eight hours on Sunday, overtime will be owed. For example, if the worker returns to work Sunday at 11 p.m., that will be one hour in addition to the eight hours worked earlier in the day, for a total of nine hours in one workday. The employee will be owed one hour of overtime.
Daylight-Saving Extension
In the United States, 2 a.m. originally was chosen as the changeover time because it minimized disruption to the greatest number of people.
Unfortunately, employers who have shifts during the time change still encounter obstacles. Making schedule adjustments when possible, and being aware of potential overtime issues may minimize the necessity to pay overtime.