Wage & Hour litigation today is relying more heavily on the use of computer forensics. There are a number of areas where computer forensics can be very useful in establishing the facts relevant to Wage & Hour litigation claims:

• Real time worked by employees
• Personal time spent by staff while at work
• Time keeping record alteration
• Demonstrating that an employment relationship exists by recovering supporting emails, documents and other electronic data
• Obtaining transactional data to support the actual time worked by an employee
• Computer forensic recovery of security video cameras to establish an employee or contractor’s time at a company location or at work
• Global Positioning System (GPS) vehicle tracking data recovery to establish actual time vs. employee time not at work

Plaintiff attorneys often request forensic images of computers used for time keeping in an effort to show that the actual hours worked by an employee were modified by management in an effort to minimize the payout of overtime. Computer forensics can be very useful to plaintiff attorney’s representing a class of litigants in seeking to tangibly demonstrate alteration of time keeping records has taken place. Forensicon has performed examinations where daily backup logs of employee tracking information were recovered and used to establish that alteration of time keeping records took place.

Forensicon can also assist companies involved in Wage & Hour litigation to defend against claims. The forensic analysis of an employee’s use of a computer on work time has proven successful in the past of being able to rebut the notion that an employee worked extra hours that would result in overtime payments being due to the employee.

Additionally, cell phone forensics can often reveal an employee’s whereabouts and establish time periods when an employee is engaged in personal matters versus engaged in work related business.

Unemployment claims by recently departed or terminated employees can often be denied if the employer is able to demonstrate to the unemployment referee that the employee’s dismissal was for cause. Former employee’s that were dismissed for not performing their work responsibilities can face a difficult time arguing for the payout of unemployment benefits if it can be demonstrated that the majority of the former employee’s time at work was spent surfing online and engaged in social media websites such as Facebook, Google+ and other personal online endeavors.

Forensicon has worked both with plaintiff counsel in seeking effective discovery of relevant data and with corporate defense counsel is seeking to minimize risk exposure. Our experts are well versed in searching for the critical data that can support Wage & Hour related claims. Our experience working for plaintiff counsel in these types of matters positions us to offer defensive litigation consulting services in this area as well.

Many of our staff are experienced database application programmers who can quickly construct queries and reports that can help you to report on the data that is important to your discovery related production obligations, while minimizing the inconvenience and costs of obtaining or producing such information in a usable and understandable format.

If you or your client is involved in a Wage & Hour litigation claim, or if the EEOC is seeking discovery from your company relating to a recently filed complaint, call Forensicon today at 888-427-5667 for a complimentary telephone consultation or contact us.