Vacation Leave for exempt employees

[flippette]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? California

I am a manager of a division of 20 employees and have worked for my company for over 20 years. I have a very large amount of vacation time. My son plays baseball, has 3 games a week and games start at 3:30 pm. The season lasts 10 weeks. I would like to take vacation time on game days and leave at 3:00 pm. I work for a wonderful manager who has never questioned my leaves and has no problem with my taking time to attend my son's games. It is I who would like to take this as vacation, so I don't have to worry about the example I am setting for the employees in my division.

I have had several other requests from people that work for me that fall in the same category. (e.g., they'd like to take every Friday afternoon off for the entire summer, etc.) I don't have a problem with them taking the time off and think they should be allowed to take vacation to do this. Our HR dept. has advised us not to do this as it is illegal. I then tell them to take it off anyway and the employees don't because it makes them feel like "slackers".

Is there any way around this CA state law that disallows me to use my vacation in the way I'd like to use it?

 

[Beth3]

Either you're misunderstanding what HR is saying or HR is confused.

An employer is perfectly free to grant vacation in increments as small as they wish and for whatever times/days they wish to grant it. It's entirely up to the employer. As long as paid vacation time is available, there are no problems.

If these exempt employees are requesting unpaid time off for partial days, that is a problem though. The employer can grant the time off if they wish to but because these are exempt employees, they cannot be paid in less than full day increments.

Our HR dept. has advised us not to do this as it is illegal. I then tell them to take it off anyway and the employees don't because it makes them feel like "slackers". If you're advising employees to do something that is contrary to company policy, you could find yourself in trouble with your employer.

I suggest you return to HR and discuss the situation in more detail with them and find out specifically what their concerns are. Company policy could dictate that vacation not be taken in less than certain increments both for internal administration needs and because there are some requirements in the FMLA (which has nothing to do with taking vacation) which has an impact on how small of increments an employer wishes to grant paid time off.

 

[flippette]

Partial vacation leave for exempt employees

I believe CA has a unique state law that prohibits exempt employees from taking partial days of leave. My understanding is that if you are present for any part of a day, you get paid for that day (regardless of how many hours you work).

To clarify, our HR dept advised me that it was illegal to have hourly employees record partial time off (as in my example of taking Friday afternoons off). I advised the employee to go ahead and take the time off, adhering to the state law and not recording partial leave time. This is not contrary to company policy. It is just uncomfortable for the employee.

Am I misunderstanding the CA state law? My issue has nothing to do with company policy. It has everything to do with CA state law.

 

[Beth3]

I believe CA has a unique state law that prohibits exempt employees from taking partial days of leave. My understanding is that if you are present for any part of a day, you get paid for that day (regardless of how many hours you work). Federal law for exempts is the same, however neither applies to VACATION time when the employee requests vacation time off, which is what your question is about. The CA law you are referring to applies to partial days absence due to illness and personal business, not an employee requesting vacation time in partial day increments. An employer most certainly can grant vacation time in less than full day increments. I don't pretend to be expert on CA reg's (they are unique) but I think there's a misunderstanding as to what that law requires.

To clarify, our HR dept advised me that it was illegal to have hourly employees record partial time off (as in my example of taking Friday afternoons off). Now you're talking about hourly employees? They never need to be paid more than for the hours they actually work (excepting any "call in" provision under CA laws, which wouldn't apply here.)

 

[flippette]

Oops, my bad, I meant to say exempt employees not hourly (to your second point) . Sorry.

 

[cbg]

I could be mistaken, but it's my understanding that CA law absolutely forbids the use of vacation in partial day increments for exempts under any circumstances. I know Washington, which is the other state with a similar law, allows vacation in partial day increments IF the exempt employee agrees, but I don't think CA has that provision and just disallows it totally.

Beth, maybe we should consult with our CA law expert.

 

[Beth3]

Sounds like it would be a good idea. I may have gotten it wrong.

 

[cbg]

I think there are some exceptions for sick time, wherein may be the confusion. Or I could be the one who's confused.

Anyway, I'll see what he has to say.

 

[Beth3]

I stand corrected. Our CA law guru tells me that an employer may not debit an employee's vacation bank for partial days of vacation. Go figure. Anyway, flippette, your HR department is correct. If you grant an employee, say, 1/2 day of vacation upon the employee's request, it cannot be considered vacation time; it must be considered a full day worked.

This hardly provides an incentive for employers to grant vacation time off in in partial dayl increments and be flexible with their employees personal needs but hey, they didn't consult me before passing the law. Sorry for any confusion I caused.

 

[withonel]

You can deduct sick pay

Because California considers Vacation pay as wages, in that employers are required to pay accrued vacation at termination, CA does conflict with Federal rules when it comes to deducting from an employee's vacation bank for partial days. In other words, you risk disqualifying an employee as exempt if you attempt to deduct from their accrued vacation hours for partial days.

You can, however, deduct a partial day from sick leave if the sick leave doesn't vest and the employee isn't entitled to be paid out for it on leaving the company.

 

[msw1]

What is the basis for statement re: partial deduction of sick days?

Hi there - I see this post above and have to ask - what is the legal basis for your statement regarding the ability of the employer to deduct for partial sick days? I am told by the DLSE on two separate calls to two separate offices - that this practice is not allowed in CA. Both inquiries I made directed me to the last CA opinion letter on the topic that indicated that sick leave may not be decuted in partial days - only full day increments. Also it was made very clear that CA did not follow the new federal guideline on this topic and that an employer remained at risk if it required deductions of this type. I have researched this over and over again and always come to the same end - a statement that says: yes, you can deduct, but no legal reference and then this conflict with the DLSE. Can you please let me know what the basis is for your statement? The situation I see in this regard is that if an employee is required to use all thier sick leave for partial day absences, then they actually have to take a full day or weeks off due to something serious, they would loose salary in daily increments. This seems contrary to the status of an exempt employee particularly as the State has long defined exempt status as full payment of a stated salary regarless of hours worked.
Any help appreciated
Thanks!

 

[anineja]

Requiring sick and vacation in full day increments

My state is New York.

I want to know if my company can require our employees to take their personal and vacation time in full day increments? Is there a New York State law that anyone knows of that covers this.

Thanks!!

 

[mlane58]

In California, a state appellate has published part of a decision holding that an employer may dock the vacation (and PTO) account of salaried exempts when they have partial day absences.

Previously the Labor Commission held that under California wage and hour law, an employer may not dock the vacation (and PTO) bank when an a slaried exmept emplyee has a partial day's absence because the vacation (and PTO) were considered a form of deferred compensation vested to the employee.

This ruling brings the California approach in line to what USDOL/FLSA allow.

Here is the link.

For pdf:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A105832.PDF

For Word:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A105832.DOC

 

[cbg]

An employer can always require an employee to take their vacation in full day increments. They have no legal obligation to let you take part of a day off.

 

[Sockeye]

All I can add is that I'm thankful my employer is not in California!