Recent HR HeroLine e-newsletter

AJ SPHR

A Q&A in the recent edition of HR HeroLine has me a bit concerned that the answer didn't go far enough and I wondered what others thought. The question was about someone who was goofing off 2 hours of his 8-hour workday and she asked if they could dock 2 hours a day from his timecard. The answer was basically the following:
"It's a different matter, however, if he takes a newspaper to the employee lounge every morning and spends a half-hour reading it when he's supposed to be working. Then it would be permissible by the wage and hour law to deduct a half-hour from his timecard every day. From a legal point of view, it wouldn't violate the Fair Labor Standards Act since the employee really didn't do any work and wasn't at his workstation."

This answer seems odd to me because it didn't even clarify or ask the poster whether the employee was exempt or non-exempt, and if the employee was exempt, can you really deduct 2 hours from a timecard during a day in which they performed some work? I guess my main confusion is why the answer didn't clarify exempt vs nonexempt status and that seemed like it should be an important part of the answer.

Anyone else read the Q&A? Am I just reading this wrong or missing something? x:-/ Or do I just need need a vacation with sunshine, blue skies and mai tais?!x:9

Rockie

If the person is exempt you certainly cannot dock his pay unless he stays in the breakroom reading for the entire week!

Even for hourly individuals, I wouldn't get into the "docking of pay" for goofing off. I would address it as a disciplinary to the employee. Do you really even need or want someone who has time to goof off like this?

Parabeagle

I think his nonexempt status was implied by the fact that the individual's time was being tracked via time card. An exempt wouldn't need a time card.

AJ SPHR

I thought that too, Parabeagle, but there are mfg companies that require exempt employees to track their time for charging their hours to specific departments. The FLSA doesn't prohibit tracking time for exempt employees, as long as you don't link it to pay.

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-09-04 AT 09:15AM (CST)[/font][br][br]I agree 100% with you AJ. You're correct about the time card, the ambiguity in the example you cite and the incompleteness of the answer given. It sends an entirely (potentially) wrong answer to those who may take it as gospel. (oops, truth)

System

AJ and Parabeagle are both right. His nonexemptness was implied but wasn't clear. Thanks for pointing it out. I fixed it:
[url]http://www.hrhero.com/q&a/040904-goof-off.shtml[/url]

James Sokolowski
HR Hero Line Editor