Payroll Legality Question

spatulacity

Our CEO, for either fear of loss of productivity or the economy in
general, sent an email notice to all employees informing them that
because the week between Christmas and New Years is typically
non-productive time, there will be a mandatory time off. He then states
that the paid holidays will consist of 12/25-12/26, and 1/1, but if you
want to be paid for the other days, you will have to use your vacation
time. If you don't have it to use, you won't be paid. Of course, he
didn't inform the HR staff, who became the scapegoat for much employee
angst.

My question is this: is what he did legal, even to salaried employees?

Secondly, if someone were to be forced to work, what are the legal implications behind that?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

HRforME

If the office/business is closed for a whole week, the employer is not required to pay exempt employees because the employee did no work in that week.  I know of companies that do this (HP for example), but the employees have known all year.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_541/29CFR541.602.htm  "...Exempt employees need not be paid for any workweek in which they perform no work...."

 

 

IT HR

There could possibly be an issue - Christmas is on a Thursday so the week in between Christmas and New Year's runs Thursday - Thursday.  So if the exempt employees work on Friday 1/2 then they would have to be paid for that whole week (Dec 29-Jan 2) whether they had leave or not.  If the office is closed on 1/2 and the exempt employee doesn't work at all that week then you don't have to pay them.

 

 

HRforME

IT is correct...we are giving our employees the day and day after this year, rather than the eve's.  So for us, it would be a whole week AND workweek closed. But if you were open on the 2nd, you might have to pay for the whole week if your workweek is the same as ours.  Our workweek is defined as Monday-Sunday.

I did a little more digging and the FLSA defines "workweek" under overtime compensation as"An employee's workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours--seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It need not coincide with the calendar week but may begin on any day and at any hour of the day."  https://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_778/29CFR778.105.htm

Now whether that same definition applies to the exempt deductibility that I quoted above :http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_541/29CFR541.602.htm..I am not sure. At one point it speaks of a week and then another it speaks of a "workweek".

I would want the advice of counsel familiar with the FLSA to determine the eligibility of not paying exempt employees who are out of personal/paid time off.