recent blackout

[me2]

What is the name of your state? Michigan.
Is this legal? I was working for 3 months onsite outside of the us. because of the blackout in the north east which happened while i was there, some people from our company couldnt go to work that day. so the company came up with the policy that they will figure out how much money the company lost because of the blackout, and take it out of everyone's salary. can they legally do this? even though i worked my normal hours (which they got compensated for by the other company) i will get a smaller paycheck....

 

[Beth3]

Good heavens! No, they can't do that. Do your company a favor and mention to the appropriate management person they are about to violate State wage and hour laws. If your employer follows through on their plan, then contact MI's Department of Labor and file a compliant.

By the way, if they docked the salary of the exempt employees for the day(s) they didn't work because of the blackout, that's illegal too.

 

[me2]

thanks Beth for your quick answer. what is an "exempt employee"? by the way, it is a small firm and we are all paid an agreed on yearly amount (so not by hour or anything) is the legal term for this: salary? Most of us work onsite at different companies, and some employees were able to make up the missed day, but some were not. The company keeps saying that we will just get less profit sharing at the end of the year if the company takes the loss. there was also mention of this being a way of avoiding layoffs.
Anyway, I guess I was wondering if you could point me to somewhere online or at a library where i can find all this in writing to show it to the managment person in writing.

 

[Beth3]

An exempt employee is one who is performing a job that is literally exempt from overtime pay under federal and state wage and hour laws. Exempt employees are typically paid a fixed salary. Non-exempt employees (i.e. those who must be paid OT) may be paid on a salaried basis too as long as they are paid time and a-half for all hours actually worked in excess of 40 in any 7-day payroll period. (The law that governs this is the Fair Labor Standards Act which you can find at www.dol.gov.)

I suggest you don't try to do the research on the federal and state laws regarding these payroll deductions the company is proposing. You won't find anything in either set of laws that specifically prohibits this ("By the way Mr. Employer, you may not take payroll deductions to cover the cost of any blackouts that occur") and it's fairly complicated. Your State laws will govern what the employer may deduct for - if something isn't included in there, then the employer may not deduct for it. Additonally, most States require an employee's express written consent before any payroll deductions can be made.

I suggest you tell your employer that it's your understanding that the the type of payroll deductions they're propsing are prohibited and that you urge them to look into it before they accidentally violate State wage laws. Let them do the research - that's their job.