In wage and hour cases, the number of hours employees have worked is usually a primary issue.  When employees are misclassified as exempt, employers are often in a bind because they have not tracked the employees’ time and are unable to refute the claims made by the employees as to how much time they worked.  Even in cases in which employees are classified as nonexempt, employees frequently claim to have worked more than 40 hours per week without being paid overtime.  In either situation, it is often the case that employees have not kept contemporaneous time records themselves either.
 

On May 9, 2011, in an effort to enable employees to easily and accurately track their hours worked, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division released a "DOL-Timesheet" app.  The description of the new app, which can be seen here, states:  "This is a timesheet to record the hours that you work and calculate the amount you may be owed by your employer.  It also includes overtime pay calculations at a rate of one and one-half times (1.5) the regular rate of pay for all hours you work over 40 in a workweek." 

While the app is currently only available on the iPhone, iPad Touch and iPad, the DOL has indicated that it is exploring updates that could enable similar versions for other smartphone platforms, such as Android and BlackBerry, and other pay features not currently provided for, such as tips, commissions, bonuses, deductions, holiday pay, pay for weekends, shift differentials and pay for regular days of rest.

This should be a warning to employers of the need to have systems in place to accurately track your employees’ hours worked.  Otherwise, employees equipped with this and similar apps might be in a better position to prove higher hours worked in wage and hour cases.