Parental Leave and FLSA

JRS

For Washington,DC based employers, there's a Parental Leave Act of 1994 that says Employees who are parents are entitled a total of 24 hours of leave during any 12-month period to attend or participate in school-related events for their children. It also says that the leave will be unpaid unless the employee uses paid leave provided by the employer.

My question: If an exempt employee chooses to take "parental leave" but not use vacation or other paid leave, doesn't the Employer have to pay the employee anyway under FLSA regulations (because the exempt employee is taking off less than one week's time)?

KDowney

You may dock employees for a full day's absence when they are taking time off work for personal reasons (such as this specific state law). The DOL regulations recognize several instances where an employer may make deductions, or "dock" employees, for absences of a full day or more without jeopardizing the exemption.

An employer may make deductions when the exempt employee is absent from work for a day or more for personal reasons, such as when an employee takes an unpaid personal day. However, if a private employer makes deductions from an exempt employee’s pay for absences of less than a day, the employer is considered to be treating the employee as an hourly employee and may jeopardize the exempt status.

The exception for docking a weekly salary for personal time can be found under 29 CFR 541.118(c), at this link:
[url]http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_541/29CFR541.118.htm[/url]