Dear Ellie, Our Employees Keep Missing Payroll Deadlines
Dear Ellie,
We are dealing with an ongoing issue where a group of employees consistently fails to submit their timesheets by the payroll deadline. Despite repeated reminders and coaching, the behavior continues each pay period.
Frustration is building, and my manager has suggested that we simply not process pay for employees who do not submit their timesheets on time. The idea is that withholding pay might finally drive compliance.
This makes me uncomfortable. If we know the employees performed work during the pay period, aren’t we legally required to pay them for hours worked, even if their timesheet wasn’t submitted properly? I understand we can address performance or policy violations separately, but withholding wages feels risky.
How should HR balance wage payment obligations with accountability for timekeeping compliance? What is the appropriate way to correct this behavior without creating legal exposure?
– Trying to Enforce Standards the Right Way
Dear Trying to Enforce Standards the Right Way,
Your HR instincts are spot on. I need you to take your manager’s suggestion, place it in a locked box, and drop it into the Mariana Trench.
Withholding an employee’s pay because they failed to submit a timesheet is not “driving compliance.” Under federal law, it is wage theft.
The Law Does Not Care About Your Deadlines
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is incredibly clear on this: it is the employer’s ultimate responsibility to keep accurate records of hours worked. If you know, or have reason to believe, that an employee performed work during a pay period, you are legally obligated to pay them for that work on the regular payday.
You cannot hold a paycheck hostage to force completion of an administrative task. If you do, you are inviting a Department of Labor audit, wage and hour claims, and potential liquidated damages (meaning you could end up paying double).
Your manager is trying to use payroll as a disciplinary tool because they do not want to do the hard work of actual management.
How to Fix It (Legally)
Protect the Company: When the deadline passes and an employee hasn’t submitted their time, you do not withhold their check. You pay them based on their regular scheduled hours (or a reasonable estimate of the hours they normally work). If they end up working overtime that you didn’t know about, you true it up on the next paycheck. You must pay them for the time you know they worked.
Audit the Friction: Take 15 minutes to review your timekeeping system. Conduct a listening tour with employees to understand why they aren’t completing their timesheets. Is the system a nightmare to use? Does it require logging in through a VPN, completing twelve clicks, and deciphering error codes? Sometimes noncompliance is a user-experience issue. Make sure you aren’t disciplining people for struggling with a broken system.
| If This is a User Experience Issue | If This is a Behavior Issue |
|---|---|
| Create a Band-Aid Workaround: Don’t force employees to keep fighting a clunky system while you look for a long-term fix. Create an immediate, low-friction alternative to capture their time. “Until the portal is fixed, please email your total hours directly to your manager every Friday by 3:00 p.m.” | Discipline the Behavior, Not the Paycheck: Your manager needs to separate pay from policy. Failing to submit a timesheet is a performance and conduct issue. Treat it exactly as you would an employee who refuses to wear safety goggles or consistently shows up late. |
| The Undercover Boss Test: Sit down with the payroll or IT team and have them submit a timesheet under the exact same conditions employees face (using a mobile phone, working off-site, or with a spotty connection). The people who manage the systems often don’t realize how frustrating they are until they experience the user journey themselves. | The Action: Stop sending gentle reminders and move directly to progressive discipline. Verbal warning for the first offense. Written warning for the second. Final written warning for the third. Termination for the fourth. |
| The Cheat Sheet Intervention: If you are locked into terrible enterprise software and absolutely cannot change the system, over-index on training. Create a one-page, idiot-proof visual guide with screenshots (“Click here, then here, ignore this error message”) and pin it to the top of your team communication channels. | You cannot withhold pay, but you absolutely can terminate employment for failing to perform the administrative duties of the role. |
The Manager Tax
HR is not the timesheet police. If an employee doesn’t submit their timesheet, their direct manager should be the one chasing them down, not you. If a manager’s team is chronically late, that manager should be held accountable for failing to enforce company policy. Behavior tends to change quickly when managers are responsible for their team’s compliance.
Resources to Back You Up
When you push back on your manager, do not use your opinion. Use the federal government. Here are the verifiable sources that support your position:
U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements Under the FLSA — This explicitly states that the employer, not the employee, is legally responsible for keeping records of hours worked and ensuring compliance.
U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the FLSA — This fact sheet reiterates the “suffer or permit to work” standard. If you know the employee worked, you must pay them regardless of the status of the administrative paperwork.
And Now, a Word from HR… to HR
It is exhausting when leadership proposes illegal solutions to annoying problems. It puts you in the position of being the Department of No.
Here is your exact script for your manager:
“I understand the frustration, but withholding pay violates the FLSA and exposes us to Department of Labor fines and wage claims. I will not authorize an illegal payroll action. However, I have drafted written warnings for the repeat offenders for failing to follow company policy, and I need you to deliver those warnings today.”
Be the guardian of the law, and assign accountability to managers to actually manage.
Stay resilient,
Ellie
––
Elizabeth “Ellie” Tancreti is a seasoned HR consultant (and former Senior Recruiter, Onboarding/People and Culture Specialist) who’s faced the same challenges—and helps professionals like you get unstuck.
Bring your questions—on burnout, alignment, career pivots, leadership challenges, building culture, or any thorny questions keeping you up at night. Ask your question and get Ellie’s advice.
The information contained in this site is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject.
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