Exempt employee working PT while on FMLA

HR inWA

I have an exempt employee who returned to work from home part-time (20 hours per week) while she is still out on FMLA after the birth of a child. She requested to come back so that she could earn money after she exhausted all of her paid leave. This raises several questions for me:
1) Is it permissible for me to cut her salary in half and say that she is working 43.33 hours per semi-monthly pay-period?
2) Does this interfere with her exempt status?
3) Do I then need to offer her more FMLA time since she has been working?

LindaS

I answer to your questions:

1) Yes it is permissible to cut her salary for the time she is missing without jeopardizing her exempt status, as long as the time she is missing is FMLA.

2) THe time she is working does NOT count against her FMLA allottment so you would, in essence, be allowing her "more time"

Make sure you have a doctor's release before allowing her to return to work, though.

Don D

Ditto what Linda S. said. To clarify, she is allowed 12 weeks. You diminish the 12 weeks by any time she does not work. You can track the time by the hour and total the hours into days and subtract it that way to make it easy. I think you should certainly work with this employee in returning her part time. Her talents should be welcome back on a half time basis. I also understand her needing the money. Don't we all.