Bad Weather

Riley · December 2002

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.

Renie · December 2002

Our policy state that when an employee misses work due to inclement weather, they must make up the time using either personal or vacation time. Or if the amount of time missed can be "made up" within the next week, employees may do so with their manager's permission. (policy goes for exempt and non-exempt employees.)

Margaret Morford · December 2002

Some employers force employees to use their vaction or PTO time. I have one employer, who must have sufficient people present to run the business, that will not permit the use of vacation so that people have an incentive to come to work. They allow for the time to be made up during the work week if the type of job the employee has allows for making up time during the same workweek. The non-exempt employees do not get paid unless they come to work or make up the time. The exempts get paid but are stll expected to get all of their work done. If an exempt misses too much time due to inclement weather, they address it through corrective action. I'll send you the policy if you like. Just e-mail me. It's pretty strigent.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

pecohr · December 2002

Just to throw a twist in here...
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

System · December 2002

pecohr -- I just woke up from researching exempt status. Best I can tell, when an exempt employee misses a day or partial day, most courts would allow you to reduce his sick leave or vacation time by that amount. But if you allow employees to cash in unused leave, some courts would consider that to be compensation that can't be cut for a partial day's absence.

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

Whatever · December 2002

Let's really twist it up. What happens if the company decides to close early.

Riley · December 2002

What happens when the ee has no vacation time?

Hatchetman · December 2002

Under FLSA, if the employer remains open on an inclement weather day that prevents exempt emplyees from coming to work on that day, then the absence MAY result in the docking of the salary for that day. The absence would be personal reasons. The employer had work available, but the employee wasn't able to do it and chose not to come in for the day. In this type of situation, the test for the exempt employee to be paid when he or she isn't at work is that the employee is ready, willing and able to work but it was the EMPLOYER who prevented that from happening such as by closing down for the day.

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.

Rockie · December 2002

Being a medical faciity, we are rarely ever officially "closed" for business. If we happen to be officially closed, we still ask for essential personnel to come in. If they don't feel comfortable driving, then we send someone in a four wheel to get them.

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!

Cindy Hanna · December 2002

Tell your ees to visit Wisconsin in the winter. They would be in for a real treat.

slm · December 2002

Or Maine!! x;-)

SandiF · December 2002

Rockie, re: post date 12/5

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!

Nick Ogden · December 2002

The employee is reqired to do the job; regardless of the time it takes. It works both ways, you should not deduct pay if they have not showed (given they tried to get to work).The exept gives you many hours of "unpaid" time at other times; if you dock them, expect trouble.

Riley · December 2002

Thanks to all for their insight on the issue! I don't think we are going to deduct. The ee comes early/stays late. Plus, I found out we haven't docked pay bc of bad weather in the past. I would hate to discriminate against this ee.

Thanks again,
Riley

Bad Weather

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