Reduced Hours - Exempt
Golf
41 Posts
We are going to reduce all employee hours for an eight-week period, from 40 hours a week to 32 hours a week. This is going to include exempt employees. So exempt employees will be paid for a full week, but that full week will be 32 hours during that eight weeks. Should we have them sign any sort of an agreement or acknowledgement for that eight-week period? Do you see any problems?
Comments
This question needs clarification. You said you are going to pay exempt employees for a full week despite the reduced work week hours. Is their salary being reduced? The basic idea of exempt employees for FLSA purposes is that they work the number of hours needed to do their job without any consideration of the actual number of hours. Obviously, as concerns nonexempt employees, the number of hours worked is the key to the amount of money paid to them. If you continue to pay the exempt the same amount as in the past, the reduction of actual work hours is not relevant - at least as a legal matter. The morale of the affected exempt employees is a different matter as it would, of course, also be for nonexempt employees. If you also reduce the exempt employee pay proportionately, you can do so but remember once the new salary is implemented, they get paid that regardless of whether they work 32, 52, or 2 hours in the week. You are, after all, supposed to be paying an exempt employee for the job done and not the hours worked. Of course there are exeptions such as when incremental FMLA is involved. Obviously this advice addresses the legal aspects of your question. Dealing with the morale of employees paid less money for the week, even though the actual time demand is reduced, is of course a management challenge.