Addressing Employee Pay During Bad Weather
When bad weather occurs and disrupts your business operations, your employees need to know if you are still obligated to pay them. There are several factors involved in determining employee pay for harsh weather days. Here are a few guidelines to help communicate how you will address pay issues during bad weather.
Distinctions between Non-Exempt and Exempt Employees
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), non-exempt employees are required to be paid only for the “hours worked”. As an employer, you are under no obligation to pay them, unless you have promised them to pay for the duration of the absence.
Exempt Employees, on the other hand, earn a full salary regardless of the number of hours worked in any work week. Even if your company closes for less than a full work week due to bad weather, your exempt employees are still entitled to their full salary.
However, in some cases, vacation or paid time off may be charged to exempt employees. It is advisable to review such a decision as it can upset employees.
When your business stays open in bad weather
Non- Exempt employees must receive pay for any time spent working, including working remotely. For example, checking and replying to emails warrants payment. For such need of payment, prior authorization from you is not required.
Exempt employees must be paid their full salary for any partial or full-day they report to work. If an employee fails to attend work due to the inclement weather, as an employer you may be required to charge from their vacation or paid time off (PTO).
If an exempt employee chooses to stay home, refraining from remote working due to personal reasons, permitted deductions from the employee’s salary may be considered.
When bad weather forces to close business
If you choose to close your business during periods of bad weather, you must pay full salary to your exempt employees for the entire week. This is regardless of whether or not your employees reported to work for the entire week. There can be days when you may need your employees to use their accrued leave time.
If the exempt employee no longer has any leave time left, you will be required to advance leave time.
Working from home
Both exempt and nonexempt employees may sometimes be required to work remotely whether or not it is authorized or recognized. It can be as simple as checking email or taking phone calls. Regardless, off-the-clock work still has to be counted. Make sure you are appropriately accounting for unscheduled work time so that you have a system to properly track.
It is the best practice to draft a written policy for your company in compliance with Federal and State Laws to notify employees and avoid any form of miscommunication during unexpected weather events.
