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This is a federal baseline, not an individual eligibility determination. State and local laws, industry rules, public-sector requirements, collective bargaining agreements, and exemption status can change what applies. Check with your state labor agency and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for guidance relevant to your situation.
What to record for an accurate work-hours log
Record hours actually worked, not just the hours on your schedule. For each work date, note when work began and ended, any break or other nonwork interval relevant to the shift, and any deviation from your normal schedule. If you work in separate blocks, log each segment so the total can be reconstructed.
Include work you perform before or after a shift, remotely, or while on a meal break if the employer knows about it or allows it. DOL guidance says work an employer “suffers or permits” generally counts as work time even if it was not requested. That can include finishing a task or correcting errors after a shift. Whether a particular interval is compensable depends on the circumstances; for example, meal time spent working while still on duty may count.
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- Write down the date and actual start and end times for each work period.
- Note interruptions and nonwork intervals rather than assuming every elapsed minute is work time.
- Capture early starts, late finishes, remote tasks, and other work outside the scheduled shift.
- Keep the underlying daily entries, not only a rounded or aggregate weekly total.
Use the employer’s workweek—not the pay period
Ask your employer when its workweek begins and ends. Under the FLSA, a workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It does not have to match a calendar week or the dates on a pay period. Overtime is generally calculated within that workweek, so adding together hours across an entire pay period can obscure whether you crossed the threshold in a particular week.
After confirming the boundaries, total each day’s hours and then the hours in that workweek. Keep the daily entries that support the weekly total so you can reconcile discrepancies. If your schedule is normally fixed, DOL permits an employer to record the standard schedule and note when it was followed, but actual hours must be recorded when they differ.
How federal overtime applies to tracked hours
For a covered, nonexempt employee under the general FLSA rule, hours worked over 40 in a workweek must be paid at no less than one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate. The applicable regular-rate calculation can depend on the pay arrangement and compensation included, so an hourly base rate alone may not settle the overtime amount.
The federal rule is generally weekly: working on a weekend, holiday, or regular day off does not by itself require extra pay unless the hours take the employee over the overtime threshold. State or local rules may provide different or additional protections. A job title alone does not establish whether someone is covered or exempt.
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Compare your records with your pay stub
Use your time entries and pay information to check the following, rather than relying only on a scheduled-hours figure or a pay-period total:
- Workweek boundaries: Are the hours grouped under the employer’s fixed 168-hour workweek?
- Actual time: Were early starts, late finishes, permitted tasks outside the shift, and schedule deviations captured?
- Compensable intervals: Were work during a meal break, required waiting, or interruptions assessed according to the circumstances?
- Coverage and rate: Is the employee covered and nonexempt, and does the calculation use the applicable regular rate?
- Jurisdiction: Do state or local rules add protections beyond the federal baseline?
If an entry or payment appears inconsistent, preserve the records and ask the employer how the hours and rate were calculated. For questions about applicable protections, consult the DOL or your state labor agency.
Who keeps the records, and for how long?
Employers covered by the FLSA are responsible for keeping accurate records for covered nonexempt employees. Having an employee enter time does not transfer that obligation to the employee. DOL’s Fact Sheet #21 lists records including identifying information, the workweek start, hours worked each day and week, wage basis, regular rate, straight-time and overtime earnings, additions or deductions, total wages, and payment dates.
DOL’s federal summary says payroll records generally should be retained for at least three years; records used to calculate wages, such as time cards and schedules, generally should be retained for two years. Keep your own notes or copies of time records and relevant pay information as a parallel record. DOL says it is a good idea for workers to keep their own hours record.
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Choose a tracking method that you can maintain
Federal guidance does not require a physical time clock or a particular timekeeping format. DOL says, “Any timekeeping plan is acceptable as long as it is complete and accurate.” A paper notebook, spreadsheet, printable calendar, or suitable digital tool can work if it preserves actual hours and deviations clearly.
DOL’s worker-facing recordkeeping page links to a free iPhone timesheet app and printable work-hours calendars in English and Spanish. These are no-cost options for personal tracking. A paper work-hours logbook or timesheet notebook is an optional alternative or backup, not a federal requirement; the employer remains responsible for required records.
Sources: DOL Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping; DOL information for workers; DOL Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked; DOL FLSA overview.
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