NFIB joined the US Chamber of Commerce in filing an amicus brief in the case Delmer Camp v. Home Depot USA, Inc. of the California Supreme Court. The case asks whether neutral rounding time is a fair way to calculate California employees’ hours worked, and subsequently their paychecks. Neutral timekeeping policies are permitted under federal law and the laws of nearly every state.
“Neutral round time for decades is considered not only the basic policy for saving time, but also a fair and beneficial system for employers and workers,” said. Beth Milito, Executive Director of the Small Business Legal Center of the NFIB. “Requiring employers to count employee hours to the second would place a disproportionate burden on California’s small businesses, many of which use manual timecards and calculate payroll without assistance in a service or accountant. With their limited time and resources, this inconsistent pattern can be detrimental to many small business owners. The NFIB urged the Court to reverse the lower court’s decision.”
The brief argues two main points: 1) Federal law allows, and California precedent supports, neutral time rounding as long as the time is rounded up and down to reflect an average time worked, and 2 ) Raising this standard will impose significant costs. of hundreds of thousands of small businesses in California with little evidence that employees would benefit from the Plaintiff’s proposed rule.
The NFIB’s 2017 small business poll found that more than half of small businesses process their payroll in-house. The 2021 NFIB tax survey also found that 53% of small business owners do not use a third-party payroll provider.
The NFIB Small Business Legal Center protects the rights of small business owners in the nation’s courts. NFIB is currently active in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts across the country and the US Supreme Court.
