Can I require exempt employees to record their hours or punch a time clock?

In short, yes, you can require this. There are many legitimate reasons to track working time, such as tracking amounts of leave taken, evaluating staffing levels (long hours may indicate a need for additional staff, or might be used in performance evaluations), and even determining FMLA eligibility (employees must have worked 1,250 hours in the preceding 12 months).

The matter of recording time was addressed in the preamble to the exemption regulations, as revised in April of 2004. The preamble is a discussion of the rules, and the Wage & Hour Division (WHD) offered the following: "We agree that employers, without affecting their employees' exempt status ... may require exempt employees to record and track their hours; may require exempt employees to work a specified schedule; and may implement across-the-board changes in schedule under certain circumstances."

This has also been referenced in a few Opinion Letters from the WHD. One letter responded to an exempt employee who asked about his employer's right to track his time (FLSA 2004-4NA, Timekeeping for exempt/nonexempt employees). The WHD stated: "These regulations do not limit an employer's ability to track working time ... it is not a violation of the FLSA or its implementing regulations for your employer to track your working time, even if you are an exempt employee." The second letter responded to a question about tracking hours worked to determine the amount of leave taken (FLSA 2005-5, Timekeeping system and 29 CFR 541.602). The WHD stated: "As the preamble to the new Part 541 Regulations explains, employers may require exempt employees to record and track their hours and to work a specified schedule, and may take deductions from accrued leave accounts without affecting the employees' exempt status..."