On May 1, the California Supreme Court held oral arguments in the highly anticipated Troester v. Starbucks (9th Cir. 2016) 680 Fed.Appx. 511, 512, case currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit deferred ruling while it awaits the California high court’s critical decision on whether the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) de minimis rule—on which employers frequently rely—applies to wage claims under the California Labor Code. Although that decision could have wide-ranging consequences for California employers, it should not significantly impact the use of time-rounding software to record employee work time even if the court concludes that the de minimis doctrine does not apply to Labor Code claims of unpaid wages.

Time-Rounding Software and Practices