The quarter-hour rule took 14.3 minutes a week and gave back 3.3. 77% of sampled weeks lose time, and at each week's own rate it adds $370,280 across the class.
Punch to pay
What a wage and hour audit does between the clock export and the memo
The sources are checked, the sample drawn and the pay rules read before any week is priced; the class figure and the memo come last.
- 01Sources and coverage
A source check that counts each file and maps gaps before pricing
How it works
- Clock export, edit log, payroll registers, wage statements, schedules and job codes, each with its count
- 1,834,560 punches and 38,412 edits read for 14 restaurants across 12 quarters
- A re-exported edit log and a password-protected schedule file each marked on the grid
- The open schedule file is flagged as one no priced figure depends on
Data analystKnows before any pricing which files are complete, which one the client must send again, and whether the gap touches a dollar figure.
- 02The sample
A sample drawn within role groups, with its seed kept on record
How it works
- Random within each role group, in proportion to the class weeks
- 120 of 1,870 current and former employees, 18,700 of 99,600 class weeks
- The seed, 2611207, is recorded beside the design
- A new draw needs the analyst's approval and is recorded
Data analystPuts a defensible draw on record before any dollar is priced, and keeps the analyst's time on the method instead of the joins.
- 03Pay policies read
Pay rules quoted from the handbook, money questions left to counsel
How it works
- Each rule quoted from its source: handbook, bonus plan, differential memo and waiver form
- The reading sits under each quote, with what it found in the records
- Rounding read as uneven: 77% of weeks lose time, a net 11 minutes a week
- Whether the quarterly bonus is nondiscretionary waits for counsel's decision
Employment counselDecides the readings that move money, such as the bonus and the meal waiver, without combing through the handbook again.
- 04Punch-to-pay ledger
A punch-to-pay ledger that prices each sampled week by legal theory
How it works
- Scheduled, punched and paid hours side by side for each employee-week
- The unpaid gap priced under rounding, meal periods, regular rate and edits
- Filters for gaps over 30 minutes, meal issues and edited time
- Rounding reads not priced until counsel switches it on
Employment associateGets the weeks, the rule and the dollars in one place, so a recommendation can be written from the ledger without rebuilding it.
- 05Punch tape, one week
A punch tape tying each unpaid minute of a week to its punch
How it works
- Six worked days on one axis: schedule, punches, meals and the paid span
- Scheduled 47:00, punched 48:52, paid 47:15
- A 30-minute deduction flagged where no meal was punched
- Owed for the week, itemized and cited: $110.14
Employment associateSees the skipped meal that was still deducted, the late meal and the waiver that ran out, each tied to its own punch record.
- 06Sampled employees
One strip per sampled employee, darker in the weeks pay fell short
How it works
- One cell per three weeks across the whole lookback
- Filter by back of house, front of house, bar or shift leads
- Average minutes lost a week, then dollars by scenario
- Names stay with the matter team; the memo uses employee numbers
Data analystSpots the employees and role groups where losses cluster, and opens any one person's largest week from the list.
- 07Exposure scenarios
Scenario switches that re-price the class as each theory goes on
How it works
- Four theories a plaintiff could plead, each showing its rule, sample and class figures
- Rounding: 14.3 minutes lost and 3.3 gained, a net 11 a week
- $69,520 in the sample becomes $370,280 across the class
- Class exposure moves to $1.38M, range $1.21M – $1.56M
Employment counselSees what each theory adds before mediation, in the same dollars-per-workweek terms a plaintiff's firm uses to price the claim.
- 08Class extrapolation
An extrapolation method written so a mediator can follow it
How it works
- Rate per week in each role group, times that group's class weeks
- Back of house runs $16.42 a week, shift leads $19.24
- A 90% range from 1,000 resamples of the 120 employees
- Sample against class: average regular rate $19.93 against $19.88
Employment counselApproves a method that can be defended line by line, with an ungrouped cross-check that lands within $22 of the grouped figure.
- 09Signed memo
A privileged findings memo, each figure cited, that counsel signs and releases
How it works
- Summary, four findings, what is not priced, four fixes and the method
- Each finding carries its class figure and links to its records
- Penalties, liquidated damages and interest named as not priced
- Nothing reaches the client until counsel releases it
Employment counselSigns on day 6 where a consultant quoted 5–6 weeks, and hands the client four changes to make in the next pay period.