Can my boss refuse to show my pay records during a government investigation?

The situation

I live in Ohio and have been working as a warehouse supervisor for a logistics company for about three years. Starting back in January 2023, my manager began telling us to clock out at 5:00 PM but stay to finish loading trucks, which usually takes another hour or two. He told us this was 'off the clock' and wouldn't be recorded on our paychecks. Since then, I have tracked my actual hours on a personal notepad, showing that I am missing roughly ten hours of overtime pay every single week. I tried talking to my supervisor and even sent an email to our HR department last month, but they completely ignored me and told me to just focus on my work. Now, I have filed a formal complaint with the Department of Labor to get my unpaid wages. During the investigation process, I am worried because my boss told me that since he owns the company, he doesn't have to show the investigators my actual time cards or the company's internal payroll books if he doesn't want to. I am unsure if the government actually has the power to force my employer to hand over those specific documents and make my coworkers show up to testify about these unpaid hours.

Detailed Analysis

Your employer's claim that he can refuse to show time cards or payroll books because he owns the company is incorrect under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

First, the Department of Labor has broad authority to investigate your unpaid overtime. The law states that the Administrator "may investigate and gather data regarding the wages, hours, and other conditions and practices of employment... and may enter and inspect such places and such records"^[1]. This means the government has the right to look at your company's internal documents to see if you were actually working those extra hours between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Furthermore, the law requires that every employer "shall make, keep, and preserve such records of the persons employed by him and of the wages, hours, and other conditions and practices of employment maintained by him"^[1]. This means your boss has a legal duty to maintain the very records he is now trying to hide.

Second, your boss cannot stop your coworkers from talking to the government. The law provides that for the purpose of any investigation, the rules regarding the "attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents" apply^[2]. This gives the Department of Labor the power to call your coworkers to testify about the unpaid hours they worked.

In short, the government has the legal tools to force your employer to hand over the payroll books and to compel witnesses to show up and tell the truth. Your personal notepad tracking your actual hours will be a critical piece of evidence for the investigators to compare against the company's official (but potentially inaccurate) records.

Statutory Citations

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