As an employer, you may be able to log into the digital timesheet system used at the company and alter the timecards for yourself or anyone else at the business. This means that you could theoretically change the time when a certain employee logged on in the morning or when they logged out at the end of the day.
One thing to note is that this is not inherently illegal, as you are not prohibited from changing the timesheets. However, in order to do it legally, you always have to focus on an accurate representation. Changes should never be made if they do not reflect when an employee actually worked.
2 potential examples
For instance, maybe you have employees who log in at the central office, but they often work at remote job sites. An employee may log on in the morning, but they call you at the end of the day and say that they are just going to head home from the remote location. This means they are unable to log out on time. You may be able to alter their timesheet to reflect the actual time that they stopped working that day.
Another example could be if one of your employees forgot to log in at the start of the day. Maybe they were just busy, and they worked for a few hours before realizing the mistake. There is nothing wrong with altering their timesheet to move their login time back to when their shift actually started.
When you run into issues is if you change the timesheet so that it is less accurate. If an employee worked overtime hours, for example, you cannot log into the timesheet and delete those hours to avoid paying them overtime.
Handling conflicts
Timesheet alterations can be contentious with employees in some situations, and conflicts may arise regarding the accuracy of these records. If so, it is important for you as an employer to understand your legal rights and the steps that may need to be taken.