If You Are Working During the Summer, Check Your Paystub Receipt
Daylight saving time ends early this Sunday. (Here’s our post on the history of time changes.) Aside from changing hours, there is another reason to note this change, especially if you are working on an hourly basis.
Last year, on Twitter, New York City Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez provided a helpful reminder for those working Saturday night / Sunday morning when daylight saving time ends. “… If you [work] late shift … when the clock rolls back and [has to] work an extra hour, make sure you check your paycheck this week and get paid for it!” she tweeted . “Computers sometimes miss this. Make sure you get paid – don’t let your labor be stolen! “
This tip was also posted by ¨R ounds on Reddit, where users shared their experience of dealing with missing hour payments. “Stupidly, some pay / time systems do not account for this missed hour, and not all employers have payroll managers smart enough to even understand this is happening, so they just issue receipts based on the times shown on hours, ” writes u / krazydavid . “As someone who has worked in IT for a long time and has done a lot of these systems, I have seen this happen several times.”
According to the Fair Labor Law and Standards, you must receive full compensation in an hour. “FLSA requires workers to be credited with all hours actually worked,” the Department of Labor website says, citing an example of an employee who works “eight” hours, but from 1 am to 2 am twice because of the time change. “Therefore, if an employee is in a work situation similar to that described in the example above, he or she worked … nine hours on the day daylight saving time ended.” Of course, this can vary depending on the policies of your particular employer, but it is most likely illegal.
If this happens to you, be sure to check your payroll first and include all of your hours worked. If you find this to be inaccurate, talk to your employer immediately about getting your hourly pay (and refer to the website above). If you still have problems, you can inquire about your particular case directly from DOL or even inform your employer, especially if it involves several employees; you can also report concerns confidentially.
Of course, if you are in Hawaii or Arizona where daylight saving time is not enforced, or if you are an employee, this issue may not affect you (although, if you worked overtime as an employee that night, it may affect you; again, check your employer’s policy).
And if you’re worried that you’re having trouble getting used to the early sunrise, here’s how you can at least take advantage of an extra hour. This article was first published in November 2019 and was updated on October 30, 2020 with updated context and a new header image.