I have worked for a small construction company in Indiana for over 19 years ( 2 owners that work in the office, 7 on the construction crew, and myself and 1 other that works in the office). [EDIT: The construction crew are hourly employees.]

I have been told by my employer that I am salaried. Everything has been fine for several years (of course I had been working 40 or more hours).

Last Friday I called in at my scheduled start time to let them know I was going to be late. I was late 2½ hours and my employer wants to dock my pay for those hours. He stated that my pay is based on working 40-45 hours and if I work less than 40 hours my pay should be docked.

I brought up the fact that I had worked 4 hours and 44 minutes over my regular hours so far this year and that by paying me those 2½ hours I still had worked an additional 2 hours and 14 minutes.

He then stated he didn't count the minutes.

Since I called him on docking my pay he brought up punctuality. We do have a timeclock and I am required to clock in and out, so I know exactly how long I have worked. He said that my punctuality had become a problem and that I was late 15 days in December. I told him I found this hard to believe since we only worked 18 days that month. He said he had the records and had looked them up just this afternoon.

When we first went to the timeclock I starting copying my timecard. When my employer saw me doing this he told me not to do it, it wasn't necessary, he was keeping all the records. I have continued to make my own copies and I checked those and I was late 1 day in December.

Is all of this correct? At what point do I benefit from being a salaried employee?

I am assuming that when you use the word, "salaried", you mean that you are exempt. (There is such a classification as salaried non-exempt...those people are definitely eligible for overtime, albeit at a lesser rate than a traditional non-exempt classification.)

A salaried employee can have their pay docked for partial days as long as the docked amount is made up from a vacation, sick or other time off benefit. What cannot happen is that the pay for the day is actually reduced.

If that isn't the case in your situation, then federal wage and hour law has been violated. You can contact the Indiana Department of Labor. Their website may be found at: http://www.in.gov/labor/wagehour/estandfaq.html

Does my employer choose where he would get the 2½ hours from (sick pay or vacation)?

If so, what happens when I do not have any sick or vacation time left?

Frankly, yes. If you don't have any left, then the employer cannot reduce your pay.

Just to make sure I understand:

1. If I work a partial day my employer would take hours from my sick or vacation time to make up the difference so I would have a full weeks pay.

2. If I work a partial day, and do not have any sick or vacation time left, my employer would still have to pay me a full weeks pay.

If I worked 8½ hours Monday thru Thursday but then left Friday after only working 7 hours (1 hour early) would my employer still be able to take an hour from my accumulated sick or vacation time?

Your employer COULD (not would) take the time. Also, an exempt person can have partial days made up with a time off bank. Your employer would make the decision whether the missing time would come from a leave bank and/or if the time is not taken from a leave bank because you worked extra hours earlier in the week.

Thank you very much for your help.