No leave

[franz-27]

What is the name of your state? CA

My current employer does not show any record of any leave earned for all employees for both vacation and sick days. i am an exempt employee and would like to know how to deal with this situation when i want to take a day off. Should i just take it when he docks my pay for not coming to work?

thanks.

 

[cbg]

Your employer does not show any record of any leave taken where?

Why is it your employer's responsibility to keep track of your leave? What's wrong with you keeping track of how much time you've taken off?

 

[pattytx]

Well, they had better have some records, at least for vacation, because if you terminate, they have to pay out the balance.

Have you contacted HR? Just because the balances do not display on your pay stub, for example, does not mean the records are not being kept.

 

[cbg]

Just because the balances do not display on your pay stub, for example, does not mean the records are not being kept.

That's why I asked him WHERE the employer is not keeping any records.

This is actually a hot button item for me. When I had employees coming in and asking me how many days they'd taken off, I used to tell them that I only knew about days they'd submitted vacation requests for; that there were 120 of them and only one of me, and while it was my job to take care of the records fpr the company I expected them to have some idea what time they were taking off and they didn't get to abdicate all responsibility.

 

[pattytx]

Oh, cbg, I absolutely agree. The employees should know how much they accrue each pay period/month, and how much they have taken.

OP, it would behoove you to find a starting place here, get the knowledge you need to figure this out yourself, and then keep your own records. Then, if you do not get paid for a vacation or sick day when you thought you should have been, you at least have a starting point for discussion.

 

[franz-27]

I guess the question was put in the wrong way. My employer does not give days off on record so we are all very insecure about taking time off because of the fact that he does dock our pay for it. Some people have explained that exempt salaried employees should not be docked even if the do not complete the 40 hours required a week or if they take a day off. Others say that since there is no such leave given by the employer then he has the right to deduct your pay for not coming to work.

Most of us would ove to take a doy or two off but are really afraid of losing money. Our employer has pretty much kept us in the dark with this with kind of a "need to know" basis and maybe according to him we do not need to know. So other than the FLSA leave of taking care of an ill relative or bonding with a new child, what other reasons could ther be for thim not to dock our pay?

 

[cbg]

Note to self: Check posting history before responding.

I answered this question for you almost a year ago, Franz. The answer has not changed since then. However, I will answer it once more, very completely. It will be the last time I answer this question for you.

Your post last year says that your employer does not offer vacation or sick days. This is LEGAL. No Federal law and no law in any state says that an employer has to offer vacation days, sick days, personal days, paid holidays, or any other kind of paid leave. It is certainly not competitive, but your employer is not violating the law by failing to provide this kind of time.

The Fair Labor Standards Act, which is the primary Federal law which regulates the payment of employees, allows the employer to dock the pay of an exempt employee in the following circumstances:

1.) If it is the first, or last, week of employment and you do not work the entire week
2.) If you are on FMLA*
3.) If your company offers a bona fide sick time policy with a reasonable number of days (not defined in the statute but generally considered to be at least five and preferably ten)
4.) If you take the entire day off for personal reasons
5.) If you are suspended for a major safety violation
6.) If you are suspended for violation of a written company policy to which all employees are subject and which relates to conduct in the workplace (drugs/alcohol policy, violence in the workplace, sexual harassment etc.)

* In your state, and in your state ONLY, at least some FMLA is required by state law to be paid.

Since your company does not offer sick days at all, if you miss a day of work because you are sick, they have to pay you for it and cannot dock you. See #3.

However, if you miss a day of work because you took a day off as a vacation or personal day, they CAN dock your pay. They are not required to offer vacation days in the first place and #4 specifically gives them the right to dock you if YOU choose to take a day off work.

If they tell an exempt employee not to come in, that's a different story. But if YOU decide not to come in, it's legal to dock your pay.

 

[pattytx]

Well, I haven't been posting here long enough to know that franz had played this issue before.

However, franz, even if you had not, don't you think that telling us that your employer did not have a paid vacation or paid sick policy would have been an important fact? We had to drag it out of you, kicking and screaming

 

[cbg]

's okay, Patty. I recognized the name when he first posted this but didn't remember the subject of his other posts till his second post in this thread. THEN I remembered going through him with this previously and checked his previous posts.

He didn't give all the information in his initial posts, either. I'm not sure whether he just doesn't understand what's important or if he's deliberately withholding information in order to get the answer he wants.

 

[franz-27]

I apologize for the repetition but i was just wondering if anything has changed since i last posted.

As employees of this company, we feel frustrated being left in the dark with most employee related issues like this one. We do not get offered any medical benefits, we had to come to work for christmas eve and new years eve, we get the third degree when we are late or don't come to work but get nothing when asked to work late. Long story short, we are kept here with the bare minimum. I am actually posting this again for my other workmates to clarify the issue that just because you are salaried, doesn't mean you won't get docked when you take a day off. i told them that only works for "normal' companies.

Again, i apologize for the repeated post and thank you for helping me out. I guess it is still legal to have an idiot boss.

 

[cbg]

The last major changes to the FLSA happened just about the time you last posted but would not affect this question at all. Any change of this kind of magnitude would have been all over the news, just like the change in August of 04. No, there has been no change to the law since you last posted. You also would have seen numerous postings here relating to it.

Your employer is certainly not competitive but as I ALSO told you last year, no law requires him to provide health insurance, dental insurance, paid holidays, Christmas Eve or New Years Eve off, or to refrain from questioning you about tardiness.

If you are unhappy with your working conditions, there is nothing stopping you from looking for employment with a company that offers a benefit package.