Bad Weather
Riley
52 Posts
We are located in sw Kansas which is basically in between nowhere and nowhere. So, we have 6 commuters out of 11 in the central office. Their drives are anywhere between 20 minutes and an hour. With winter approaching and our first snow storm out of the way, what happens if an exempt person cannot make it to work? Do they take a vacation day, not pay them, or do we pay them, even though they aren't at work. We had one person (the hour driver) who couldn't make it in yesterday.
Comments
Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]
What's the rule if they work part of the day. My understanding is that employer cannot deduct pay without potentially losing their exempt status, but can the employer deduct from PTO if they have a sick plan in place.
thanks,
Stuart
Riley -- If an exempt ee doesn't have vacation time, you can have him borrow time he hasn't earned yet. But it's a sticky wicket if he quits before paying it back.
James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers
Of course, there is no requirement that the employer dock that day's salary for non-appearance. And it may allow an exempt employee to cover the docked salary with accrued paid time benefits.
Your state's law "wage and hour law", if any, may, however, provide for a better "break" in such a siutation than FLSA does.
For exempt employees, if they are out a full day, they must use PTO time; hourly people either use PTO time or leave without pay. If an exempt employee does not have PTO time,they are not docked pay (most exempt people elect to have someone come and get them, even if it's just part of the day).
If we close early, exempt people are not docked anything; hourly people are only paid for the hours worked that day.
For example, yesterday we were supposed to have an ice storm (a rare occurrence in South Carolina). Of course, the media blew it out of proportion and all the schools and daycares started closing around 11:30, so half the staff had to leave to pick up kids. There was absolutely no ice on the roads - it did not start freezing until it got dark. Anyway...all the others staffers started whining about wanting to go home but the COO held his ground and said no. Supervisors were not allowed to leave their areas unmanned. This morning, virtually the same thing happened. Schools were delayed until 10 AM because of the "conditions" (there weren't any - it was only raining!)
If it wasn't for staffing nightmares, I would find this situation so amusing. This happens every time there is a hint of a snowflake within 200 miles. People want to know if we and when we are going to close and all the supermarkets are stripped of bread and milk almost within the hour. I am sure if these folks saw a real snow storm they would freak!
Anyway...it has been an interesting two days!
Are you sure you're not in Seattle? I taught grade school way back when and the weather forcast called for snow. All Seattle schools sent the kids home early (more than a little early. We never got a snowflake.
Regarding when you close your facility - it's very rare for us to close too because we are medical - the patients keep coming! On the rare occassion when we do close early, we don't dock our employees. They get paid for a full day. Even if an employee normally worked a late shift, but didn't work because of the closure, we'd pay them for their entire shift. I can't imagine not paying them!
Thanks again,
Riley