Scheduling and the exempt employee

Questions often arise regarding work schedules for exempt employees. According to the Department of Labor, employers:

• MAY require exempt employees to work specified work schedules,
• MAY require exempt employees to track hours worked, and
• MAY require exempt employees to make up un-worked hours.

Any or all of these work rules may be adopted without invalidating the employee’s exemption status.

It should be noted that while an employer MAY discipline employees for failure to comply with these matters of policy, the employer MAY NOT dock the employee’s pay without losing the exemption.

The DOL has stated that the Fair Labor Standards Act provides a complete minimum wage and overtime pay exemption for any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity. An employee may qualify for exemption if all of the pertinent tests relating to duty, salary level, and salary basis are met.

“An employee will be considered to be paid on a ‘salary basis’ within the meaning of these regulations if the employee regularly receives each pay period on a weekly, or less frequent basis, a predetermined amount constituting all or part of the employee’s compensation, which amount is not subject to reduction because of variations in the quality or quantity of the work performed. Subject to the exceptions provided in the rule, an exempt employee must receive the full salary for any week in which the employee performs any work without regard to the number of days or hours worked.

“Exempt employees need not be paid for any workweek in which they perform no work.

“An employee is not paid on a salary basis if deductions from the employee’s predetermined compensation are made for absences occasioned by the employer or by the operating requirements of the business. If the employee is ready, willing and able to work, deductions may not be made for time when work is not available.”

According to the DOL, the number of hours worked by exempt employees and the scheduling of those hours is a matter left to the employer.

An employer may require an exempt employee to record and track hours and to work a specified schedule without affecting the employee’s exemption status. So long as the company does not dock the employee’s pay for violating these rules, the exemption remains valid.

When was the last time your organization had its temperature taken?

When was the last time you asked your employees about how things are going in your company? Taking the pulse of your organization through regular employee opinion surveys is a tremendous tool for facilitating organization growth and success.

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