SALARY EMPLOYEE BENEFITS in MS

[Chellee_in_dallas]

I am currently a salary employee working in Gulfport,MS and I have been down here since mid-October. I was recently sick with the flu last week Mon-Thur and went to work on Friday 2/24. I recently heard that my Supervisor was going to pay me for 1 day last week. I have not used any sick or personal leave time since being here and am not sure what my rights are as a salary employee. I am under the impression that since I have not used any personal time off or sick time that I should be covered for the 4 days I was sick in order to get my correct pay. Also, am I eligible for unemployment in this state although I live in Texas? Is there a website where I can see the laws for salary employees as well, just to see what my rights, if any, are.

[cbg]

Salaried is only a pay method. What matters is whether you are exempt or non-exempt. That is determined by your job duties.

If you are non-exempt, then they never have any legal obligation to pay you when you do not work. I have never seen the sense of making a non-exempt employee salaried and then docking them when they miss time, but it is legal.

If you are exempt, then whether or not they must pay you when you miss work due to illness depends on whether or not the company offers paid sick time. If they offer a "reasonable" (undefined but generally figured at between five and ten) number of paid sick days, then you can be docked when you miss work due to illness if you have either used all the days available to you or do not yet qualify for them. However, if they do not offer a reasonable number of paid sick days, then they must pay you if you miss work due to illness.

Where did unemployment come into this? You apply for unemployment in the state where you live, as far as I know. But nothing in your post suggests that unemployment is even a factor. You don't get to apply for unemployment if your salary is docked - at least, not in the circumstances you describe.

As I said before, salaried is only a pay method and does not confer any rights or benefits except as indicated above. The laws are the same for salaried individuals as they are for hourly paid workers.