I know many companies offer comp time when salaried employees go over 40 hours..but I know of none this day in time that just take your word for it!
I am a bookkeeper and calculate payroll for my organization. We have exempt and nonexmpt employees. Exempt employees are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and are not paid overtime due to their exemption. If compensatory time is arranged between the employee and their manager, it must be tracked (internal rules).
Comp time must be tracked for several reasons. Some state taxes such as workers' comp are calculated by the number of hours the employee works. Also, some benefits such as pension contributions may be tied to number of hours worked. Most organizations have reports that employees fill out as to how they spent their working hours. These work reports often go to the organization's accountants, shareholders, boards, and some government entities. In addition, if comp time is not tracked an issue may arise between employee and employer as to how much comp time an employee has on the books. Like vacation and sick leave, comp time is a liability to the organization in that it is like accounts payable account that must be paid someday so it must go into the budget. CA may indicate that she can set her own hours, but the company and the state and local government has much to say about how exempt and nonexempt employees are paid and how their hours are tracked. By law, those records must be reproduced and kept for at least four years. Most companies and organizations keep records for 20 or more years, but at least the seven years which IRS uses for look-back years during audits.
Here is what the IRS states about exempt employees (e.g. CA) and recordkeeping:
Exempt Recordkeeping Laws
Exempt employees are those exempt from overtime pay under the FLSA. Most exempt workers are salaried and receive a fixed wage each pay period. The employer does not have keep a record of work hours for exempt employees, but for tracking purposes, it can if it wants to. The employer must, however, keep a record of the basis upon the which an exempt employee is paid. An employer can require an exempt worker to punch a time clock to ensure hes arriving and leaving work as scheduled.
Payroll Tax Recordkeeping Laws
The IRS requires that the business keeps employment tax records for no less than four years. Records include Employer Identification Number (EIN); tips that employees report; dates and amounts of wages and retirement payments; employee names, addresses, social security number, and job titles; copies of W-2s and W-2 corrections (W-2cs) that were returned as undeliverable; employment dates; withholding forms, such as W-4, fringe benefits and reimbursement for employee expense; and earned income credit payment forms, such as W-5.
:maddening: