Time rounding sounds like a harmless payroll practice, until it’s not. Across the country, especially in healthcare settings, employers are quietly skimming minutes off workers’ shifts. Over time, those minutes add up. And for hourly workers, those lost minutes often mean lost wages and unpaid overtime.
Now, a collective action lawsuit filed against HCA Healthcare is pulling back the curtain on how devastating those policies can be.
What is Time Rounding?
Time rounding is a payroll practice where employers adjust employees’ clock-in and clock-out times to the nearest preset increment, often 5, 10, or 15 minutes, instead of paying for the exact minute an employee starts or ends a shift.
For example, if a worker clocks in at 8:53 a.m., the system might round that time up to 9 a.m. If they clock out at 5:07 p.m., it might round that down to 5 p.m. In theory, this rounding should balance out over time. Sometimes you gain a few minutes, sometimes you lose a few.
But that’s not always what happens. When rounding consistently favors the employer, workers lose time and wages they should have been paid. This issue becomes more serious when combined with automatic lunch deductions or expectations to perform work before or after a scheduled shift.
If your hours and your paychecks don’t seem to match up, time rounding could be the reason. And if that’s the case, it might not be legal.
Why is there a Lawsuit Against HCA Healthcare?
In a lawsuit filed in April 2024, respiratory therapist Sharon McRee accused HCA Healthcare, Inc. of systematically rounding employee time entries in a way that shortchanged 18,000 workers. According to the motion for conditional certification, HCA rounded each time clock entry to the nearest 15-minute increment, almost always in the company’s favor.
The problem? Over 70% of employees allegedly experienced a net loss in wages because of this rounding practice. More concerning still, the plaintiff says HCA underpaid its employees in 100% of workweeks based on its own timekeeping records.
Meal Breaks Deductions May Have Also Been Illegal
The suit also takes aim at HCA’s meal break deductions. Before August 11, 2024, the company automatically deducted 30 minutes for lunch, regardless of whether an employee actually took a break. Anyone who’s worked in healthcare knows uninterrupted meal breaks are more fantasy than fact.
HCA claims they had a system in place to adjust time when employees missed breaks. But the policy only changed four months after the lawsuit was filed. That timeline raises eyebrows.
If this sounds familiar, it might not just be frustrating, it could be illegal. At The Carlson Law Firm, our employment law team is here to help workers stand up for the pay they’ve rightfully earned. We’ve seen how timekeeping policies can be used to quietly steal wages, and we know how to hold employers accountable.
Why This Case Matters
This case highlights a larger problem in workplaces across the country. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are allowed to round time clock entries to the nearest five, six, or fifteen minutes. However, this is only permitted if, over time, the rounding equals out. That means the policy cannot favor the employer and must not result in employees being underpaid.
That’s the rule. But in practice, especially in fast-paced fields like healthcare, neutrality is hard to come by. A Workforce.com analysis found that time rounding often cuts into workers’ pay, even when employers claim the practice is balanced. In one recent case, a company was ordered to pay more than $594,000 in back wages after the Department of Labor found its policies resulted in consistent underpayment.
In the lawsuit against HCA, workers allege the company’s rounding policy consistently shaved off time in a way that hurt employees. Seventy percent of workers experienced a net loss, and HCA’s own records showed that workers were underpaid during every single workweek analyzed.
Healthcare and Wage Theft: an Exploitative Pattern
This isn’t the first time healthcare workers have raised alarms about wage theft. In fact, the healthcare industry consistently ranks among the top violators of wage and hour laws. Long shifts, short staffing, mandatory overtime, and automatic deductions for missed breaks create a perfect storm where unpaid labor becomes routine—especially for nurses, aides, and other frontline staff.
Reports found that U.S. workers lose more than $15 billion every year due to wage theft. This includes unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, and illegal time rounding. Low-wage workers in high-demand industries like healthcare are hit hardest, often because employers rely on underenforcement and workers’ fear of retaliation to keep these practices hidden.
The U.S. Department of Labor has repeatedly targeted healthcare employers for systemic violations. In investigations affecting Texas and Louisiana, more than $1.2 million was recovered in overtime back wages across four agencies. In another, a Massachusetts nursing home operator was required to pay more than $400,000 after violating minimum wage and overtime laws.
What Workers Should Know About Time Rounding
If you’re an hourly employee, you are legally entitled to be paid for every minute you work—not just what your employer decides to round up or down. The Fair Labor Standards Act protects your right to full compensation, and that includes:
- Time worked before or after your scheduled shift if you’re expected to be on-site or preparing to work.
- Meal breaks that are automatically deducted but you didn’t actually get to take.
- Clock-ins and clock-outs that are consistently rounded in your employer’s favor, even by just a few minutes.
Many workers assume rounding is normal or even legal if it’s just a small amount. However, small amounts across several shifts add up to real money. Here’s the key, you don’t have to prove that your employer meant to cheat you. You only need to show that a common policy existed and that it routinely cut your time or pay.
That’s exactly what’s at issue in the HCA case. And if it’s happening there, it could be happening where you work, too.
If something feels off about your paycheck, trust that instinct. Keep records, save your time sheets and contact an attorney. Our team of Wage Theft Lawyers are here to help you figure out whether time rounding is costing you more than you think.
Time Rounding May be Wage Theft
Rounding may seem minor, but it can be a massive wage theft scheme hiding in plain sight. When applied unevenly or used to manipulate time records, it strips workers of the wages they’ve already earned.
These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re part of a larger pattern where healthcare employers quietly shave hours, misclassify workers, or make automatic deductions that don’t reflect the realities of the job. Whether you’re in healthcare or another hourly profession, take a look at your pay stubs. If you see rounding patterns or missing time, you may not be alone. And if you suspect something is off, talk to a lawyer who understands how to hold employers accountable.
Schedule a free consultation with our Wage Theft attorneys at 833-4-CARLSON.
