I am salaried and always have overtime each month (usually 40+ hours per month) yet my employer is taking vacation and personal/sick time from my leave balances on top of the overtime I work if I miss a partial or full day during the month. Due to the amount of time they are witholding from my leave balances my paycheck was short this month. We are on a monthly payroll schedule.

Does anyone have a reference if what they are doing is correct? My employees are int he same situation at times as well. If they are correct I'd just like to educate myself and my employees, so we understand better, if not I'd like to refer the HR to the proper references so they aren't incorrectly witholding time from employees.

Neither Colorado nor federal law addresses leave time being "docked". That's what it's for.

If you are exempt (not all employees paid on a salaried basis are), as long as you are getting your full weekly salary each week (with limited exceptions, which likely don't apply here), the employer is not in violation of any state or federal wage and hour violation.

If you are nonexempt, the above almost certainly doesn't apply, unless you are being paid using the fluctuating workweek method.

So your saying that an exempt employee must use benefit time if it is available regardless of the amount of hours they have worked in a week? Example, employee works 56 hours in 4 1/2 days and needs a 1/2 day off for an appointment. Becasue they are exempt the company witholds the 1/2 day of benefit time?

If this is the case does it matter if the company is on a monthly payroll?

If this is the case does it matter if the company is on a monthly payroll?

No. What the company is doing is legal. I think companies are making a mistake by doing just what yours is doing. They SHOULD take into account that you are working way longer than the 40 hour work week and not tagging your PTO for taking some time off.

Your options are limited. Convince them to change their practice. Unionize (I cannot believe I said that!) and have the union negotiate on that issue, among others. Find a different employer. Get Congress or your state legislature to change the law.

Thanks, I just wanted to ensure I was understanding correctly. I wasn't certain what to tell my employees when asked this and our HR wasn't able to do much other than escalate it internally and it kind of blew up in my lap. I just wish there was a black and white answer to show them. I expect I'll end up interviewing new employees soon after I share this with them.

I do provide some protection for them, but when I'm being micromanaged as well, it's difficult at times to provide that protection without putting myself too far out there.

There is a black and white answer. The company practice is legal.

This is bitter medicine to swallow for employees and good applicants. You will want to track how many offers of employment are declined and why. If this particular issue surfaces more than a few times as at least part of the reason an applicant rejected the offer, the decision makers in the company might be persuaded that the costs of making a change are less than the costs of continuing a legal practice.

Apparently, you are not in HR. They should be involved in looking at this practice, too. Their job is to look out for the best (financial) interests of the company. It should not be difficult to track the data about applicants that don't like the practice or employees that leave because of it. This translates to an impact on hiring costs and productivity. Dollars are something that every CEO understands, especially if the company is publicly traded.