Losing exempt status

denjen · September 2007

By placing an exempt employee on "flex time" for a year, can she lose her exempt status? She has not fallen below 40 hours a week until now.
I assume flex time is that we can fill in with vac and sick pay when she falls beow her forty hours. She comes and goes as she needs, but up to now worked 45-50 hours. During flex time she has recieved all other benfits.
Does anyone else have a flex time option in their company?

davids · September 2007

I don't think this is different from any other exempt employee who takes time off. You can require the employee to fill in absences with accrued leave. However, once the accrued leave is exhausted, you would have to pay the employee his/her full salary for the week even if the employee worked less than 40 hours.

denjen · September 2007

Just to be clear, by accrued leave you are referring to vac and sick pay.

FunHRBanker · September 2007

It is my understanding that you can dock exempt employees' pay for half day absences and for days that they are not at work.

denjen · September 2007

We recently changed our policy because we didn't think we could dock for a half day pay. If you are here 15 minutes then you get paid for the whole day of work.

Does anyone know for sure?

dbutton111 · September 2007

You can't dock for partial days.

However, you can require use of sick, vacation, or pto time for partial days.

davids · September 2007

Sorry. I am in an environment where employees accrue sick and vacation leave monthly. So I did mean whatever paid leave is available to the employee.

FunHRBanker · September 2007

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-13-07 AT 02:37PM (CST)[/font][br][br][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-13-07 AT 02:28 PM (CST)[/font]

The company may make deductions from an exempt employee's pay:

If the exempt employee is absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons (not illness)
and has exhausted all personal and vacation days;
• If the exempt employee is absent for one or more full days due to illness or disability and sick time or
disability pay is not available;
• To offset amounts employees receive as jury or witness fees, or for military pay;
• For suspensions of one or more days imposed in good faith for infractions of safety rules of major
significance;
• For unpaid disciplinary suspensions of one or more full days imposed in good faith for workplace
conduct rule infractions (Note: Wisconsin does not permit this);
• In the initial or terminal week of employment; or
• When an exempt employee takes unpaid leave under FMLA.

Check out an archived item: "Docking pay for salaried ees" posted by Steve G 1/28/06.

I swear I remember a modification to the rules that allowed for half day deductions too, but I can't find it.

joannie · September 2007

I also have seen documentation allowing deductions for partial vacation and sick days if in accordance with stated policy. In fact, we just revised our policy in January to reflect that change. I'll keep looking for the documentation.

HRQ · September 2007

I understand the term "docking pay" to mean reducing pay.

An employer can [i]replace[/i] regular pay with vacation/sick pay when an exempt ee misses a partial day. That is not "docking" pay because ultimately the employee receives the same salary they would have, had they worked the full day, the pay just comes from a different "bank."

As I understand it, the only time you can "dock" a salaried exempt ee's pay for partial days worked without replacing that pay with PTO is when they are on FML.

For a salaried exempt ee who misses a full day, they perform no work at all, you do not have to pay anything at all.

We require the ee to exhaust all PTO before we allow unpaid days off, however.

Losing exempt status

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