My company is rolling out a new face tracking software for "time keeping". My immediate team got an email that we are non exempt and have to clock in and out now as well as for meals. However my original documentation including my hiring paperwork in 2023, raise documentation and pay stubs all have "salary" verbiage. This was not communicated to me and I did not sign anything. When I contacted HR and asked for clarification, they danced around it and said it was an oversight which has "now been corrected". My supervisor who is out on leave and as far as I am aware, is not informed of this change. I am not signing anything until she gets back, and already followed up with additional questions for HR such as how my time was tracked etc. I did not get hired in 2023 under the pretense that this is an hourly position. It was always presented as salaried. What else should I do?

26 Comments

1. AnonymousApril 21,2026 at 8:35PM UTC

   Personally, I would rather be hourly than salary. Quite often companies try to convert those to salary that tend to see a lot of OT. Keep in mind, too, that any position can quality for hourly/nonexempt. Are you just specifically wanting documentation of this change, or is there something specific that does not appeal to you being hourly instead of salary.

2. AnonymousApril 21,2026 at 9:12PM UTC

   Thanks for your reply. We wouldn't qualify for overtime anyway as we work a bit less than 40 hours a week. So if someone has to leave a bit earlier for example for a doctor's appointment, they will get their pay docked.

3. AnonymousApril 22,2026 at 1:44PM UTC

   So were they previously considering you salary exempt or nnon-exempt? If exempt, likely was that you actual position didn't qualify and this was discovered after the fact. It's been my experience that people will set positions up as exempt or non to suit their whims rather than what's legal or legit.

4. AnonymousApril 22,2026 at 2:32PM UTC

   It wasn't disclosed as I've been here since 2023 and all my documentation and paperwork states salary verbiage. They are claiming it was wrongly filed and was supposed to be hourly for my department and a few others.

5. AnonymousApril 21,2026 at 10:18PM UTC

   Discuss your options with an employment attorney to understand what you can do.

6. AnonymousApril 22,2026 at 11:40AM UTC

   Your company is conducting business as they see fit. An attorney can draft a letter outlining their breach of contract but in the end they don't have to create an exception for you. They can creative an exit package and cut you lose. There is no law that says a company may not evolve and improve or change their business practices and policies.

7. AnonymousApril 24,2026 at 10:25PM UTC

   The company is changing the terms of LW’s employment after the fact. Your “evolve and improve” verbiage is a craven defense of the employer’s weaseling.

   Yes, the employer can cut LW loose as a practical matter. But your eagerness to defend the employer’s tactics doesn’t speak well of your management philosophy.

   I hope that LW listens to Jessica Parker or commenters who advise LW to consult an employment lawyer. LW should also consider whether it might be advantageous to be hourly versus salaried.

8. Dr. Jessica Parker, PMPApril 22,2026 at 10:55PM UTC

   Specific to the exempt vs. non-exempt question, the rules for classification are set by the U.S. Department of Labor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Non-exempt (hourly) and exempt workers are distinguished based on their eligibility for overtime pay. To be considered exempt, an employee must generally pass a three-part test: they must be paid a fixed salary (Salary Basis Test), earn at least the federal threshold of $684 per week (Salary Level Test), and perform high-level duties that involve executive, administrative, or professional responsibilities (Duties Test). Conversely, non-exempt employees are typically paid hourly and are legally entitled to federal minimum wage and overtime pay of at least 1.5 times their regular rate for all hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. More details can be found here: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime

   If it were me, I would be more concerned about the biometric tracking. Several states have Biometric Information Privacy Laws that require your employer to obtain your prior written consent and provide specific disclosures before they can legally "scan" your face. Other states have opt-in consent and data protection requirements. Check the laws in your state, as some require employers to provide a non-biometric alternative. It's possible the non-biometric option is somewhere in the fine print.

9. AnonymousApril 27,2026 at 1:00PM UTC

   I would wait for clarification from HR. With the tracking software rollout, someone up above might have simply lumped your position and others similar to you in "one" email (sorry about that) and didn't consider the details. When you get clarification- clarify if your pay is still salaried (?) and/or if your job description needs to be reviewed/rewritten? Worse case scenario: review your concerns with an employment law attorney for a one time CONSULT fee (usually < $350 to consult). Might be worth it as this rolls out. Don't be too bristly about this yet. The company is in a time of change and they might have simply made an error with you. It happens.

10. surfnwriteApril 28,2026 at 12:10PM UTC

    If they are making you an hourly employee, make sure you are getting overtime pay if you work over 40 hours.

11. AnonymousApril 29,2026 at 11:54PM UTC

    and retro pay for any hours you can prove you worked over time in the past. if they claim you have always been non-exempt. not to mention the 2 paid 10-minute breaks in an 8 hour day you were REQUIRED to take.

12. Ally MorganApril 28,2026 at 12:16PM UTC

    Even salaried employees have to track their work hours. Non-exempt simply means that you are eligible for overtime pay. You can sue an employer for not paying overtime pay.

13. AnonymousApril 29,2026 at 11:53PM UTC

    Also, benefits are usually different for non-exempt employees. they often get less vacation for example.

14. Rosanna TuftsApril 28,2026 at 12:26PM UTC

    The fact that they're implementing face-recognition tracking at all, is Evil Empire-ish all by itself. They may think they're reducing costs by catching people who are supposedly "goofing off," but there's also a hidden cost in lowered morale, from employees' anxiety and terror that the software is constantly looking over their shoulder, ready to punish them if they're one minute late in getting back from lunch. That's going to bite the company in the ass, eventually. Nobody will want to work in a punitive environment or a surveillance state.

15. Amanda GillApril 28,2026 at 1:26PM UTC

    Thinking this is to measure task / project productivity, not to calculate salary pay per hour.

16. AnonymousApril 28,2026 at 1:38PM UTC

    If they have you as hourly, Then they are in breach of the law as I am quite sure they have not paid you for anytime over 40. I would schedule time with the EEOC right now about that part with a complaint about the hours and just how you have been paid. Your pay check stub will either list you r hourly rate and how many hours to give your total pay for each period or it will state a salary.

17. AnonymousApril 29,2026 at 11:50PM UTC

    two things - I am definitely salaried, but my paycheck does show my hourly rate. So I would not use that as an indicator.

    Also, In California, non-exempt employees working a standard 40-hour week (e.g., 8 hours/day) must receive a 30-minute unpaid, duty-free meal break if working over 5 hours, and a PAID 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked (or "major fraction" thereof, meaning over 2 hours). For an 8-hour shift, this typically means TWO 10-minute rest breaks and one 30-minute meal break

18. GirlBossanova934974April 28,2026 at 3:17PM UTC

    As many have pointed out, non-exempt hourly implies a 40 hour work week and overtime pay after that. Frankly, I don't why a company would want to turn salaried employees into hourly as they are now liable for overtime pay after the clock goes by 40 hours per week. Companies always try to do the opposite. As for the facial screening, I would be out there lookng for another job, ASAP. I have seen this practice being used and the results were not good. This is usually put in place by greedy and/or paranoid management that wants to micromanage 24X7. As a business owner myself, I have a simple policy on that stuff. WE'RE NOT GOING THERE. Loyalty is a TWO WAY STREET. I want employees who go above and beyond. If they sometimes take a break or two in the middle, that's business. Give some, get some.

19. AnonymousApril 28,2026 at 5:03PM UTC

    Ask for a few things the job code for your role, then ask a copy of your signed offer letter. Use those in tandem and file a complaint to the dept of labor for an FLSA violation. Certain roles are deemed hourly by nature of the content of the work and details about the job description. Have a copy of what you were hired against and also any revised job descriptions with that too. Do not let them use what they may have revised since making that change.

    They will do an assessment of your being hourly/vs/salaried and can verify any discrepancies and will make the company audit and prove that you should be hourly not salaried. Keep track of every hour that you have worked from the time that they sent this over till when it gets solved. If you are moved to hourly then you can file to get OT pay if you are moved to hourly permanently. Alternatively, if you prefer to stay salaried then you might have to make a move.
    Here is a document with more details about what I spoke of above:
    https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/17g-overtime-salary
    good luck!

20. SharonApril 28,2026 at 7:45PM UTC

    It would seem that this is actually a 'new job' and they should need everyone to accept a 'new job offer' at the 'new terms' they are offering. Which you have not done yet. I would crunch the numbers (if they have presented them), in terms of how much your new 'hourly rate' would, at 40 hours per week would be paying you vs. what you were making as an exempt salaried employee prior to this new structure. And as others have pointed out, anything over 40 hours would now be subject to 'overtime rate pay'. Do you know what that is? And are they willing to pay 'overtime rate pay' and up to how many hours per week? And if you work over a weekend, on a Sunday, or a Holiday are those different pay rates and how much? All of these are important questions to have answered, in writing!!! Good luck to you!

21. AnonymousApril 28,2026 at 9:36PM UTC

    Sorry but I'm a little confused. What do you mean when you say "now been corrected"? Does that mean that they corrected it in the system so you are not included and the communication was in error, or are they still moving forward with this horrendous plan? I'm one of those people who think that adults should be treated like adults not children, so monitoring workers in this way is a complete deal breaker for me. I would start looking for a new job immediately but that's just me! I would not work for any company that monitors every single minute of my day, especially not for a salaried position. Even for an hourly position, I would find this unacceptable. As an adult, I deliver what I promise, I work hard, and I expect my employer to respect and treat me like the adult that I am. I know people have different feelings about this but I did not grow up to get out of my parent's house to be watched like a child as an adult. No way, no how! If someone needs constant monitoring to do a job, they probably shouldn't have that job.

    This being said, the economy and job market are not great right now. You might choose to "play the game" for now and just work on finding something else. If it's a new HR policy, it likely came from higher up than your supervisor, so I wouldn't bet on them protecting you from it. I would just lay my head low (while looking at the camera!), do the job, while I look for another one at a company that respects boundaries, treats staff like adults, and doesn't depend on heavy-handed measures to "control" the workforce. Clearly they have a morale and/or leadership issue or they wouldn't have to use such horrible methods and I would expect a mass exodus to occur at your company within the coming months.

22. maria roseApril 29,2026 at 2:38AM UTC

    This sometimes comes up a confusion discussion about how one who is getting paid a salary and yet has to clock in. Let me explain what this means and the why behind the request for salaried individual to clock in. A person who has a salary is considered a non-exempt employee. The salary is the same pay regardless every week/paycheck and it’s based on the yearly pay of $60,000 over 52 weeks at 40 hours/week, usually there’s no OT. But if the job is considered a non-exempt position then any hours work over 40 hours would have to be paid OT. Perhaps your position has been reclassified—from exempt to non-exempt and that’s why you have to start punching in and out to make sure that you are getting paid for any time worked over 40 hours which means you also have to work 40 hours/ week. It’s a pro/con situation because you are not getting a pay cut unless you don’t work 40 hours/week so it kind of cuts out leaving early like you might have done when you didn’t have to clock in for the 40 hours your salary is based on and did have not taking/starting on a new task. All that has happened is that you are now required to work all the hours that your salary covers. But at least for those times you work more than 50 hours, you will get OT

23. AnonymousApril 29,2026 at 11:37PM UTC

    @Maria rose

    You wrote : "A person who has a salary is considered a non-exempt employee. The salary is the same pay regardless every week/paycheck and it’s based on the yearly pay of $60,000 over 52 weeks at 40 hours/week, usually there’s no OT" -

    What you are describing above, I believe you meant to say EXEMPT.

    And your last sentence says "But at least for those times you work more than 50 hours....", again, I think you likely meant more the 40!

24. maria roseMay 9,2026 at 3:02PM UTC

    Thanks for re-wording my explanation to make it clearer for those who don’t understand the definition of receiving a salary versus getting paid hourly.

    My main point was to emphasize to those who prefer salary pay versus hourly pay is to realize that the employer regardless of how they pay their employees are expecting their employees to be there working for a predetermined amount of time needed for job assignments regardless of what the personal life is of the employee. Plus labor laws have evolving to highly defined standards in description of when OT should be paid. Getting paid by salary does mean you the employee should be working a designated number of hours based on whatever is currently considered full time over weeks time but OT regulations effects that depending on the geographic location regulations. Also salary employees formerly did not monitor their work hours schedule but with the new standards many former employees that received salaries had to be switched to being paid hourly based on their job description.

25. AnonymousApril 30,2026 at 9:19PM UTC

    30+ year HR professional and current CHRO here: I agree with those in the comments who are saying FLSA status is not really the issue here, but the biometric tracking feels pretty bonkers (not a technical HR term but feels accurate).

    The truth is that US companies can and do audit their hourly and salaried positions all the time for adherence to the Fair Labor Standards Act definitions. Sometimes it's because they got in trouble for not paying overtime, but other times they are simply doing the right thing. I've seen many situations like OP's where the duties of a salaried job fall a little close to the line, so the employer plays it safe and reclassifies the role as hourly. The FLSA actually prefers this, and most HR professionals know that when in doubt the job should be overtime eligible.

    If your job is reclassified, you don't have to like it but it's not a "new job" or a "breach of contract." Unless you hold a certain type of position, you are employed At Will in the United States, so you can find another role inside or outside of your company that fits your preference to be salaried. Or you can fill out a timesheet and earn overtime. But it isn't required that you sign a new offer or accept new terms when your job is reclassified.

    Where it seems like things went sideways was in the communication back to folks like OP whose jobs were reclassified. I've supported many leaders over the years with information sessions, FAQs, timesheet training, etc. when jobs move from salaried to hourly. Change management is pretty necessary in a situation like this, and "we corrected an oversight" isn't a satisfactory answer from the HR team. That isn't the kind of thing that should be communicated via email and I'm sorry that happened to you.

26. Regina BrownMay 6,2026 at 12:02AM UTC

    I would talk to my boss as soon as she gets back BUT if I am not mistaken hourly gets paid for working overtime beyond their 8 hours per day/40 hours per week. But those salaried are not eligible for overtime. In the long run, hourly may be a better deal...