FLSA Timekeeping Requirements: What Employers Must Record and for How Long

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), you must keep accurate records of hours worked each workday and each workweek for every nonexempt employee, along with the pay details that flow from those hours. Payroll records must be kept for 3 years and time cards and other supplementary records for 2 years. The law does not tell you which tool to use, only that the records are complete and accurate.

This guide explains exactly what the Department of Labor (DOL) expects under 29 CFR Part 516, how long each record must be kept, where state law asks for more, and what happens when the records are missing or unreliable. This is general information, not legal advice: when a rule depends on your state or your facts, confirm it with counsel or your state labor department.

What the FLSA requires you to record

The recordkeeping rules sit in 29 CFR Part 516. For each nonexempt employee, the DOL expects you to keep the following information:

- Identity details: full name, home address, occupation, and birth date if the employee is under 19.

- Workweek information: the day and hour the workweek begins, and the hours worked each workday and each workweek.

- Pay rate and earnings: the regular hourly rate, straight-time earnings, and the overtime premium for the week.

- Pay details: additions to and deductions from wages, total wages paid each pay period, the date of payment, and the pay period covered.

Notice that the central item is hours worked, recorded by day and by week. A schedule showing what an employee was supposed to work does not satisfy the rule, because the DOL wants the time actually worked.

How long you must keep each record

The retention periods are split in two. Under 29 CFR 516.5, payroll records must be kept for at least 3 years. Under 29 CFR 516.6, time cards, wage rate tables, work schedules and records of additions to or deductions from wages must be kept for at least 2 years.

These are federal minimums, and they are shorter than the period in which you can be sued. The FLSA statute of limitations is 2 years, or 3 years for willful violations, so a claim can reach back as far as your payroll records do. Many employers simply keep everything for 3 years or longer, and that is the safer habit. We cover the lawsuit side in wage and hour lawsuits and back pay.

The FLSA does not require a specific method

There is no federal rule saying you must use a punch clock, an app or a spreadsheet. Any method is acceptable if the records are complete and accurate. A paper timesheet filled in on the spot can comply, and an expensive system that employees can edit without a trail may not.

What the DOL looks at in practice is reliability. Are the entries made at the time the work happens, or reconstructed from memory at the end of the week? Do the hours look identical every day, such as 8:00 to 5:00 with no variation for months? Can you show who changed an entry and why? Round-number timesheets are one of the first things investigators question.

A worked example of the records you need

Suppose a nonexempt employee earns $20.00/hour and starts the workweek on Monday at 12:00 a.m. In the week of October 12, 2026, she works 9, 9, 8, 9 and 9 hours Monday through Friday. Your records should show each day's hours and the weekly total.

Weekly total: 9 + 9 + 8 + 9 + 9 = 44 hours. Straight-time earnings: 44 hours x $20.00 = $880.00. The overtime premium applies to the 4 hours over 40, which are paid at 1.5 times the regular rate: $20.00 x 0.5 = $10.00 premium per hour, and 4 x $10.00 = $40.00. Total wages for the week: $880.00 + $40.00 = $920.00.

Every number in that calculation traces back to the daily hours. If the daily hours are wrong, the straight-time earnings, the premium and the total are all wrong, which is why the hours are the record that matters most.

Where state law asks for more

The federal rules are a floor. Many states require additional detail, longer retention or itemized wage statements, and some require that you record meal period start and stop times. California, New York and Washington, for example, go well beyond the federal minimum, and the exact retention period varies by state. Check your state requirements before you decide how long to keep records, and see our overview of state wage and hour laws for how these layers fit together.

When federal and state rules differ, you follow the one that is more protective of the employee. For record retention, that usually means keeping data for the longer period.

Exempt employees and recordkeeping

Exempt employees are not covered by the hours-worked recordkeeping rules, but you still need to keep records that support the exemption, such as the basis of pay, the job duties and the salary paid. If you cannot show that an employee meets the salary and duties tests, the DOL can treat the person as nonexempt, and then you have no hours records at all. We explain who has to track time in do you have to track employee hours.

Some employers choose to track hours for exempt staff anyway. It can help with workload, with project costing and with defending a classification, as long as you apply the policy consistently.

What happens when records are missing or unreliable

If you did not keep accurate records, the burden shifts in a wage claim. Courts generally allow employees to prove their hours with reasonable estimates when the employer's records are missing or inaccurate, and the employer then has to rebut that testimony. Without time records, rebutting it is very hard.

Remedies include back wages, an equal amount as liquidated damages, and the employee's attorney fees. A recordkeeping gap by itself can also draw attention during a DOL investigation, as described in our guide to DOL wage and hour audits.

How SimpleWorkshift Helps With FLSA Recordkeeping

SimpleWorkshift is a cloud time clock for US businesses. Employees clock in and out from the iOS or Android app or from the web, and each entry captures a GPS location, so you get a time-stamped record made when the work actually happens. Managers see time entries and exceptions in real time, and the system calculates overtime automatically, including night shift differentials.

Custom reports, dashboards and payroll closing keep your hours organized by employee, day and workweek, so the records the FLSA asks for are ready when payroll or an investigator needs them. There are no contracts, you can cancel anytime, and you can try it free for 30 days at simpleworkshift.com.