Time rounding and the seven minute rule
Employers may round punch times rather than pay to the minute. The rule is that rounding is permitted if it does not systematically favour the employer over time. Rounding may not be used to underpay in a way that always lands the fraction in the company's favour.
What is allowed
- Rounding to the nearest five minutes, one tenth of an hour, or one quarter of an hour.
- Rounding each punch individually to the nearest interval.
- The practice must average out, which it does if the break point is the true midpoint.
On a quarter-hour system, the midpoint is seven minutes thirty seconds. Under a widely used practical version, a punch is rounded down to the previous quarter at up to seven minutes past, and up to the next quarter at eight minutes past. That is the origin of the phrase seven minute rule, and it is a fair method only if arrivals and departures both fall either side of the midpoint over time.
When rounding breaks
Three patterns are treated as unlawful.
- Single direction. Late arrivals round up, early departures round down, and the employee never gains.
- Rounding past a break point. Delay clocks so that everyone is recorded a full quarter past, and the gap belongs to the employer.
- Rounding away short shifts. A ten-minute call-in rounded to zero on a quarter-hour system, repeated weekly.
De minimis time
Short periods of a few seconds or minutes, such as putting on a smock, may be disregarded as de minimis where recording them is impractical. The length matters less than the practicality; regular ten-minute sessions are not de minimis.
How to audit yours
Photograph the clock at every punch for a fortnight. Compare the rounded time to the actual time and total the drift in each direction. If the weekly net drift is more than a minute or two against you, the pattern is there and the back pay is recoverable for two years, three if wilful, with matching damages.