If I have an employee that is a Supervisor but is paid less than $455 a week and they ask to leave early because of family committments on three different occations, can I tell them that they need to go ahead and take a half day on those days so I can dock their vacation?

Am I correct in assuming that they are nonexempt even though they have Supervisor Status?

If they are making less that $455 per week then they are non-exempt by definition, regardless of their duties. (Note; not all supervisors qualify for exempt status even when they are making over $455 per week - also, it is never required that an employee be considered exempt.)

As a non-exempt employee they have no legal expectation of being paid if they do not work. You may legally require that they take vacation time; you may also legally require them to take it unpaid. It's up to you.

So even if the Supervisor was making more than $455 a week but they were still being paid overtime for anything over 40 hours, they can still be considered nonexempt?

If the employee qualifies as exempt, including the salary requirement, why would you pay overtime anyway?

I guess that I'm unsure as to what status the employee actually is! Even though she is a supervisor and makes slightly more than $455/week our company pays the overtime.

The company is a Residential Theraputic Care Facility and the Supervisor's title is a Direct Care Professional. The Supervisor does not have a degree or any educational training for the position except for the training done by our company which is like a "Supervisor in Training."

Can you tell me if this employee would be exempt or nonexempt.

I can't tell you if I don't know exactly what the employee's job duties are.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17a_overview.htm

Thank you for the link, I will research. Would I consider this position to be categorized as Professional so I know what to research under?

Read all three. I have NO idea what this individual actually does.

Keep in mind that even if the employee qualifies as exempt, it is legal to treat them as non-exempt. (The reverse is not true.)

If they are being paid overtime, they are being treated as non-exempt.

If they are being treated as non-exempt, they may legally be docked for any time they do not work. Regardless of reason.

For salary non-exempt employee there are no deductions provision and the provisions of 778.114 should be follow http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_778/29CFR778.114.htm

778 does not provides deduction from salary for a salary non-exempt worker

Is there some reason you're answering questions that have already been answered (correctly) several weeks ago?

Is there some reason you're answering questions that have already been answered (correctly) several weeks ago?

I was not aware of the time limits in which a response must be provided, my apologies. But I still must disagreed with your assertion, that a deduction from a salaried paid non-exempt employee can be made by the employer, if as you stated “If they are being treated as non-exempt, they may legally be docked for any time they do not work. Regardless of reason.” 29 CFR 778.114 is my basis for no deductions can be made from a salary non-exempt employee. Although this response is a few weeks late, is mainly to correct the misapplication of salary deduction as is being reflected in this forum. Please keep in mind that I am not refereeing to authorize salary deductions that is applicable to exempt employees under 541.

The statute you are basing your incorrect assertation on, refers ONLY to situations in which the fluctuating workweek of overtime payment is being used.

It does NOT provide a general prohibition against ALL salaried non-exempts being docked.

Exactly. Section 778.114 refers to nonexempt employees who are paid using the fluctuating workweek method; not nonexempt employees in general.

The following response came from a 20-year DOL investigator:

...the bottom line is that the poster is wrong if he thinks that a salary can never be docked (e.g., a 778.113 plan). He is generally right if he is only referring to 778.114. (emphasis mine)

778.306(a) will help on that... That section refers to 778.113. Using those two together should help you to convince the poster that he is "whistling Dixie."

If I have an employee that is a Supervisor but is paid less than $455 a week and they ask to leave early because of family committments on three different occations, can I tell them that they need to go ahead and take a half day on those days so I can dock their vacation?

Am I correct in assuming that they are nonexempt even though they have Supervisor Status?

The main part of the original question was can their VACATION be docked, not their pay.

Hutch, absolutely - you can deduct the time from an employee's vacation bank whether they are exempt or non-exempt, salaried or hourly for partial day absences.

Where you have to be careful is when a salaried/exempt employee runs out of vacation time and you are considering docking pay. There are certain times when docking pay for such employees is permissable. Refer to http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17g_salary.htm (http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17g_salary.htm). Read sub heading "Circumstances in Which the Employer May Make Deductions from Pay."

Your secondary question has been answered with the DOL links for the salary basis/exemption classifications.