exempt employee shortens hours

davis · August 2001

We are a texas corporation and I have an exempt employee that has worked here for 7.5 years. There have never been any problems with work ethics. The other day she turned in her resignation giving us 8 weeks notice. With that she stated that she will be coming in every day but would be cutting her hours back gradually, working 20 hours a week her last two weeks of employment. Do we have any recourse with this? She does have vacation time available, but stated that she will be in every day, just not for 8 hours each day.

Mike Maslanka · August 2001

did she say why she was cutting back? is she leaving to go to a competitor?it strikes me as an odd request,and something else may be up...and it's just that, a request...you are under no obligation to give her what she wants from what i read in your post...i guess the other question is,if you give her what she wants,and pay her a reduced amount,will she lose her exempt status for the time she was employed?...you'd have to look at the code of federal regulations to see if it addresses this issue..if you are a member of the texas employment law center the cfrs are available to you...good luck,regards from texas,mike maslanka,214-659-4668

TheCol · August 2001

Exempt? She must be paid a full week's wage regardless of the hours worked. Sorry.

The weeks that she asserts that she is working only 20 (or whatever) hours at the end may not be in your best interest. I would not want to pay her a full pay for short time. Besides, she's leaving! You therefore should discharge her (in writing) declining her work offer for the shortened weeks. Vacation time will be used up to fill in the 40 (?) hours for a given week as her work diminishes.

easy.

Mike Maslanka · August 2001

the more i think about it,i think you are setting a dangerous precedent if you go along with this eight weeks business...perhaps you should just accept her resignation,pay her whatever vacation time she has built up and say adios...you should not be the one who bears the burden of flsa non-compliance just to suit her request...mike maslanka

Down_the_Middle · August 2001

I would check your state unemployment laws to confirm that discharging her is what you want to do. In many states, the discharge will qualify her for u/comp and you've shot yourself in the foot by changing her voluntary quit. I would rather not allow her to reduce her hours, or I'd make her a parttime exempt person and agree that she works approx 20 hrs for the last 2 weeks at a salary that is proportional to her fulltime pay at present. She'll be happy, you'll be happy and you'll preserve her FSLA status.

Terry · August 2001

Question, just because she is offering 8 weeks notice, does that mean you have to accept it or face an involuntary termination with UI? I have a hard time imagining UI would enforce this since 8 weeks is extreme and the hour reduction could be unacceptable. If not, then wouldn't we see a rash of extended notice periods hoping for involuntary terms to collect UI? I hope this is not the case. Experts?

exempt employee shortens hours

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