Employers defending FLSA overtime claims brought by employees are often frustrated when such claims include alleged “off the clock” work despite the fact that the business properly maintained records of hours worked.  A new decision rejects one such allegation.  Gilson v. Indaglo, Inc., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 20828 (11th Cir. 2014).

The sales employee plaintiffs in Gilson argued that because data reflecting when sales were entered into the system did not match up with their records of hours worked, some sales work must have occurred on-the-clock, because “sales commissions were credited to [their] accounts on days when [they] were calendared as not working.”  The appellate court observed that plaintiffs “did not dispute, however, that sales commission dates reflected the day when the sale paperwork was completed, not when the salesperson initiated the sale . . . [and also] failed to produce documentary evidence or state with specificity particular dates on which their actual work hours were not accurately reflected in the employer’s records.”  Thus, the district court’s granting of summary judgment to the employer was affirmed.

Employee-created, properly-maintained records of hours worked remain an employer’s best defense to overtime claims premised on alleged “off the clock” work initiated by non-exempt employees.