The US Labor Department has an app for keeping track of wages on smartphones

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced today the launch of its first application for smartphones, a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed. Available in English and Spanish, users conveniently can track regular work hours, break time and any overtime hours for one or more employers. Glossary, contact information and materials about wage laws are easily accessible through links to the Web pages of the department's Wage and Hour Division.

Additionally, through the app, users will be able to add comments on any information related to their work hours; view a summary of work hours in a daily, weekly and monthly format; and email the summary of work hours and gross pay as an attachment.

Michael Young of Connectpay added that this new app function can be an aide for employers with employees on the road or traveling from job site to job site such as contractors, landscapers, home health care aides, some sales people and cleaning companies. The new app not only allows employees to track their hours at any location wirelessly, but it also allows the empoloyee to email the report from their smartphone directly to the employer at any time.

Paul Altavena of Connectpay adds that this app is a free download but the user must have iTunes also a free download. Paul said this new app is a breaktrhough for both employees and employers who need the ability to track employee wages remotely and inexpensively but warns that the app is currently only compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch. The Labor Department states it will explore updates that could enable similar versions for other smartphone platforms in the future, such as Android and BlackBerry, and other pay features not currently provided for, such as tips, commissions, bonuses, deductions, holiday pay, pay for weekends, shift differentials and pay for regular days of rest.

For workers without a smartphone (iPhone or iPod Touch currently), the Wage and Hour Division has a printable work hours calendar in English and Spanish to track rate of pay, work start and stop times, and arrival and departure times.

Both the app and the calendar can be downloaded from the Wage and Hour Division's home Web page at http://www.dol.gov/whd