Forcing Employee to Falsify Time Cards is Illegal

California Labor Code section 206.5(b) specifically prohibits employers from coercing employees into signing time cards that they know do not reflect the hours worked:

This section states as follows: "... For purposes of this section, [the void and unenforceable] "execution of a release" includes requiring an employee, as a condition of being paid, to execute a statement of the hours he or she worked during a pay period
which the employer knows to be false.

One of the most common examples of this violation is a situation in which the employer wishes to avoid paying overtime to his employees and orders that those employees who work overtime, clock out after 8 hours of work regardless of whether they work way pass the 8-hour day.