Withholding of pay in final check Nevada

[alizeus]

I recently quit my job and my employer withheld $350 from my final paycheck. When I called to ask why,they said that I had taken too much vacation time and they were deducting the overage. None of this vacation time was taken during that pay period. I was a salaried employee and worked overtime, through my lunchbreak, on weekends, etc. throughout the year and have documented all of this extra time worked. When I showed them the extra time, they said it didn't matter because I was salaried. It doesn't seem right that they get to have it both ways. Is this legal?

[Pattymd]

If in fact you were an exempt employee ("salaried" is merely a pay method), yes, to my knowledge, they can withhold overtaken vacation from your final pay. California is the only state I know of that specifically prohibits it, and Minnesota is the only state I know of that requires written authorization to deduct from gross pay for clerical errors or policy reasons. You can call the state Dept. of Labor to inquire specifically, but I would not be optimistic.

As an exempt employee, it matters not that you may have worked beaucoup additional hours; that's the nature of the exempt employment status. And also, why I recommend employers don't allow employees to "go negative" in the first place.

[alizeus]

The problem is, most of the time they say was unused vacation time was for doctor's appointments, school functions, and things like that. I constantly worked extra to make up for this time and I'm sure that the extra time I worked well exceeds the time they took out of my check. If salary is just a payment method as you say, how can they have it both ways?

[Pattymd]

OK, let me try again. As an exempt employee, you are expected to work how ever many hours are necessary to get the job done without additional compensation, comp time, or anything else.

The laws are specific relative to docking your actual wages; there are very few situations in which this is legal (unlike nonexempt employees, who legally need only be paid for the actual time they work). However, the law does not care from what "bucket" your guaranteed salary comes; regular pay, vacation, holiday, sick, to them it matters not. If the employer's policy is paid your paid time off bank(s) be used to offset the time your missed so that your salary is kept whole, they may legally do so.

Many companies will not care for an hour or two, if the employee does not abuse the privilege, and will not dock your leave bank for such an absence. However, there is no law prohibiting them from doing so, whether you are nonexempt or you are exempt.