Kathleen Bray

<font size="2">WINTER WEATHER RULES:  The fifth largest snowfall came last month basically during holiday weekend time.  It is good to be reminded of the Fair Labor Standard Act rules that apply during the work week. <br />
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Hourly employees, of course, do not need to be paid when they do not show up for work because of inclement weather or even when the employer closes the business early during inclement weather, such as a snowstorm.  Exempt salaried employees, however, cannot be docked pay for partial days missed or full days missed when you close your business.  The Fair Labor Standard Act rules make it clear that, if you provide personal days or vacation, you, in fact, may require a salaried employee to apply vacation or other paid time off.  For example, if you close your office after two hours on one day and remain closed the next day, you could require a salaried employee to deduct 14 hours of vacation or paid time off.  To the extent a salaried employee has used all of their vacation or paid time off, you need to pay them without any deduction.  On the other hand, if he/she simply does not show up, because he/she feels, for example, “snowed in”, this could be considered an absence for personal reasons, and you can deduct a full day of pay.  However, if a salaried employee simply decides to leave early to make sure that they get home safely, your only alternative is to use paid time off or vacation, as you cannot dock for partial days without risking loss of exempt status.<br />
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Obviously, there are safety reasons to be considered and you would not want employees to report in many instances, and good employee relations may dictate not making any or only partial deductions.  However, these pronouncements do give you some options, if you desire to use them.  Finally, a recent pronouncement reminds employers to have a written policy against improper salary deductions so that an occasional correction of a mistake in pay calculations does not result in a loss of exempt status. <br />
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