Exempt employee confused...

[fuzzyfree]

I am currently an exempt employee in New Jersey. I recently looked at my paycheck stub and noticed some PTO charges on there that I did not expect.

I had worked 40 hours in one week (more than that actually) I had left earlier one day and then worked an extra day to make up for it. I was charged PTO time for the day I left early, even though my obligation to work 40 hours during that week had been fullfilled.

Is this normal practice? It seems a bit unfair that I worked 40+ hours but still had to give up some of my PTO bank. Also, my paystub does not reflect the correct number of hours worked!! It reflects only 36 hours when I had worked for about 46.

[cbg]

Yes, that is normal practice. An exempt employee is not paid on the basis of how many hours they work. If you miss part or all of a day and it is your employer's practice to charge that time to PTO or vacation (and that is the practice of almost every employer in my experience) then the fact that you worked "extra hours" later in the week does not matter - they may still apply PTO or vacation or whatever paid leave time applies, to the partial (or full) day absence.

Is it petty? Possibly. Is it common? Yes. Is it legal? Also yes.

[fuzzyfree]

Sounds like its time for a phone call to my legislator.

Is there any New Jersey law regarding the administration of "Salary" as a method of payment? For example, if I were to work less than 40 hours, would they still be required to pay my normal salary if I had no PTO time left in my "Bank"?

[cbg]

Yes, they would, with certain, very limited exceptions. The sword cuts both ways. You don't get extra money when you work extra hours, but you don't get your salary cut if you work fewer hours, either (again, with certain, very limited exceptions).

The ONLY time you can have your salary docked in partial day increments is if you are on FMLA. Outside of that, if you work any part of the day, you have to be paid for the whole day. They are allowed to take it out of your vacation, sick, or PTO banks, but you MUST receive the full salary in terms of dollars if you worked even five minutes of the day.

Your salary can be docked in whole day increments under the following (and ONLY the following) instances:

1.) It is your first or last week of employment and you did not work the entire week
2.) You are on FMLA (if you take part or all of a day off for FMLA protected reasons, you are entitled to be paid only for exactly the amount of time you worked - if you didn't work at all, you don't get paid at all; if you worked four hours, you get paid for four hours; if you worked 15 minutes, you get paid for 15 minutes)
3.) When your employer offers a bona fide sick time policy with a reasonable number of days, and you call in sick when you either are not yet eligible for any time, or have used up all the time you have accrued
4.) You take a full day off for strictly personal reasons
5.) YOu have been suspended for a major safety violation
6.) You have been suspended for the violation of a written policy which applies to all employees and relates in some way to workplace conduct (violence in the workplace, sexual harassment, drug/alcohol policies etc.)

If you miss time for ANY other reason, you must still be paid for it even if you do not have any vacation or sick time to apply to the absence.

[fuzzyfree]

Of course, in such a circumstance the employer would have the right to terminate my employment is that correct?

As an example, an employee arrives late to work and had notified his superior in advance (at least a week) that this would happen. The superior did not object. The employee has no accrued PTO time in his or her bank, but is salaried so must recieve compensation for the week regardless. The employer could then take disciplinary action against that employee even if he or she meets his or her obligation to work at least 40 hours in that week.

[cbg]

Technically yes. It's quite unlikely to happen, however, as to do so would not be cost-effective in a number of different ways.

BTW, there is no LEGAL requirement that you work 40 or more hours per week. An employer can set the workweek at 30 hours or 35 hours or 40 hours or 45 hours or 60 hours or 25 hours. Most employers use 40 as that is the point at which the law requires a non-exempt employee to work overtime, but there is nothing in the law which dictates how many hours per week an exempt employee is required to work. That is ENTIRELY up to the employer.

[fuzzyfree]

Thank you very much, your insight has been very valuable!

[connorgram]

Are you sure you are an exempt employee? I have heard many companies use that tag, or say that you are salaried. But there are very clear definitions of just who is an exempt employee. My sister worked for a firm where they were all under the impression that they were "salaried" or exempt employees. In fact, none of them were an when my sister was fired for refusing to continue to work the long hours, she reported to the Labor Dept and she and all other employees were compensated for the OT for the previous 2 years.