I work as a Loss Prevention Investigator in the state of Florida on an hourly basis (40/week standard). Part of the job is ensuring that all buildings are secured at the end of the night, meaning all doors are locked and so forth. Recently an issue has risen where it seems some of the Investigators are not checking every door and they are being left unsecure overnight.

When a door is found to be unsecure in the middle of the night by Base Police (I work for the Navy) our Security Guard (responsible for opening the stores each morning) is called in to secure the door and recheck the building. When this occurs the Guard is paid for 2 hours despite the actual length of time spent on the call in. The department supervisor and manager are now suggesting/threatening that should the Guard be called in and paid for two hours, the closing Investigator will be docked two hours of pay to compensate.

If the only way the buildings could be left unsecure were through the laziness or eneptness of the closing Investigator this would not be an issue for me. However, it has happened in the past where doors are opened after an Investigator has left for the night (usually by someone who has a key to the building that our department is not aware of). The department does not have 100% absolute key integrity of the buildings (though we should), meaning anyone who has a key could come in after hours, forget to lock up when they leave and the closing Investigator loses two hours of pay automatically.

Not to mention we have had cases of Base Police Officers forcing their way in and saying the door was unsecured. This is no different than if a burglar were to break in, by smashing the window or picking the lock, and the Investigator being penalized for not being there to prevent it.

These occurences are not common, but do happen and are completely out of the realm of control of the Investigator. Bringing me to my question, which I'm sure has already been anticipated. Can my employer dock an employee upon the basis that they did not do an adaquete job, as per the job requirements, without absolute evidence that the said duty was unperformed?

I've always prided myself on doing a good job, at this job and my first, but things happen that are outside my ability to control. It doesn't seem ethical, and it certainly shouldn't be legal, for the company to recoupe from their employees in instances such as these. Any advice or information that someone could lend me would be immensely helpful.

Thanks

No, the employer cannot dock pay on the basis of the quality of the job done, and it has nothing to do with whether or not the securing of the doors is within your control. It's because docking based on the qualify of work is illegal, period.

It's impossible to say from what is in your post whether you are an exempt or a non-exempt employee. However, if you are exempt, there are only VERY limited instances when you can be docked at all, and ALL of them have to do with your absence from work. If you are non-exempt, you MUST be paid for all the time that you work. There are no provisions in either instance for docking for reasons other than absence from work.

You CAN be disciplined for the non-securing of the doors, even if you do not have full control and even if doing so is unfair. But that discipline cannot take the form of docking pay.*

*All of the above is correct for employees of the private sector. It is *possible* that as a member of the military the answer is different. Hopefully someone else will know that for sure.

I believe I am known as non-exempt, but today is the first time I've ever heard of either. Up until I began researching about the possible docking my fellow Investigators and I face, I didn't know such a thing existed. We recieve time and a half for overtime and get a meal and two rest breaks. We're paid for the hours we work and nothing more or less (That is unless they try to implement this policy).

I work for the Navy Exchange (NEX) and have always been told we're part of the private sector. I know we're not part of the military or government/federal employees; we just work for the military as part of a government funded organization. I hope that helps with what I am considered. I'd ask my supervisor, but I would rather he doesn't know I'm researching this until all my ducks are in a row.

I'd read in other posts that as long as you weren't paid less than minimum wage docking was allowed (ex. mechanic breaks a part and is docked to pay for the new part). How does that differ from this situation?

Thanks again

Docking pay means you don't get paid at all. That's different from reducing the employee's pay for the hours worked.

In some states, the employer cannot reduce the employee's pay unless they give prior notice before the work is performed. However, to my knowledge, Florida is not one of them.

Thank you both for the information. It is certainly a relief to hear and I appreciate the input. Anything else that comes to mind would be wonderful and more than expected. I would ask, though, where this information can be found in a legal sense (ie. something I can present as evidence should they attempt to implement the policy).

I did misspeak earlier in regards to the funding of the NEX however, though it doesn't change our position in the private sector. The NEX works for the military, under government supervision (so to speak) and is funded solely by the profits made through its business.

Once again thank you both for all the help and should anyone else have something they'd like to interject, please do. I will check back here over the next several days. This site/forum has been a tremendous help. I need to go check a few doors now. :D

See, here's the deal. Unless there is a law in place (unless there is just a screaming public policy violation) addressing a certain issue or situation, it is normally legal.

They are definitely treating you (as well they should, from the description of your job duties) as a nonexempt employee, and therefore you must be paid for all hours worked. Period.

Okay. There have been a few new developments in the situation where I work. They have decided to go with the docking pay policy and the justification follows; Investigators are scheduled for, and work, a full 40 hour week, therefore they can dock the proposed 2 hours because full time stops at 38 hours per week. My question is whether that is true and if so does that mean anything over 38 hours should be treated as overtime?

If that is the case does that mean the NEX would owe its associates back pay for all those hours worked over 38, essentially 2 hours of overtime pay (as opposed to regular pay) for every 40 hour week worked prior? Since we've already been paid 100% for each of those 2 hours up to this point it would be a matter of an additional 50% per hour (to equal their time and a half rule), or in effect an extra hour (2 times 50%) per 40 hour week worked up to the implementation of the new rule.

I haven't even approached my supervisor at this point with what I've learned from this site because I wanted to have some form of evidence beyond a web forum, even if it does specifically refer to labor laws. I believe word has gotten to them that I've been upset by these developments, but not that I've discovered they're illegal.

Would it be at all possible for someone to point me at the legislation or official documentation dealing with this matter at hand. I would like to sound like more than an upset associate when I state my case. I most certainly do not want to upset my employer, but I also refuse to let them take money away that I've earned by being one of their most reliable employees.

Thanks again to all who can and choose to help.

Are you saying that you are working 38 hours a week but being paid for 40? I want to be clear on that before progressing any further because everything depends on the answer to that question.

The opposite in fact. We work 40 hours but they are saying that because 38 hours is full time, those 2 additional hours above 38 are dockable.

They are mistaken. There are NO circumstances under which a non-exempt employee can be paid less than his hourly rate times the number of hours he works. It doesn't make any difference whatsoever what is considered full time; if you work 40 hours, you MUST be paid for 40 hours. No ifs, ands or buts.

However, the fact that they consider 38 hours to be full time does NOT mean that they must start paying overtime at 38 hours. As far as Federal law is concerned, overtime is ONLY due when an employee has WORKED more than 40 hours in a week. It is NOT based on the company's definition of full time and it is NOT based on how many hours an employee is paid for. If you work 35 hours between Monday and Thursday and take 8 hours of vacation on Friday, you get paid for 43 hours of straight time - no overtime is due because you did not WORK more than 40 hours.

The law in question is the Fair Labor Standards Act, which you can find on the DOL web site. www.dol.gov

Thanks for sending that link. I've been searching the FLSA since you posted and haven't had any luck finding what I'm looking for. I'm sure it is in there and I'd say I'm just not looking in the right places, but I've gone over it all. I looked up docking and other words related to our conversation but still failed to locate the right section. Is there an "official" word for what we've discussed that I can search for perhaps? Otherwise I'll keep looking and hope for the best. Thanks again.

What exactly are you looking for? Look under wages and hours.

I am just looking for the passage that states that employers must pay their employees for the time worked and not for the time the company or supervisors feel they should be paid for. I will keep looking for it.

Try this:

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs22.htm