Wage Deductions
Employees who are classified as exempt must record absences from work for reasons such as leaves of PTO/vacation leave/sick leave/personal leave, or any other absences or time away from work.
Exempt employees are generally paid on a salary basis. This means the employee regularly receives a predetermined amount of compensation each pay period, which cannot be reduced because of variations in the quality or quantity of the employee's work. In general, an exempt employee will receive his or her salary for any week in which the employee performs any work, regardless of the number of days or hours worked. Under federal and state law, an exempt employee’s salary may be subject to certain deductions. For example, absent contrary state law requirements, an exempt employee’s salary can be reduced for the following reasons:
- Full-day absences for personal reasons other than sickness or disability.
- Full-day absences for sickness or disability, if the employee has exhausted or is not yet eligible for paid time off under a bona fide policy or plan that provides compensation for salary lost due to illness.
- Full-day disciplinary suspensions for infractions of written policies and procedures.
- Penalties imposed in good faith for infractions of safety rules of major significance.
- Unpaid leave taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
- To offset amounts received as jury and witness fees or military pay.
- The first or last week of employment when an employee works less than a full week.
- Any full workweek in which an employee does not perform any work.
In a workweek in which an exempt employee performs any work, the employee’s salary will not be reduced for any of the following reasons:
- Partial day absences.
- Absence on a scheduled workday in which the College has decided to close the facility at which an employee is scheduled to work and has not designated an alternate work site.
- Absences for jury duty, attendance as a witness or military leave, except that the College may offset the employee’s salary based on the payment received as jury or witness fees or military pay.
- Any other deductions prohibited by federal or state law.
Please note: It is not an improper deduction to reduce an employee’s accrued PTO/vacation, sick/personal leave or other forms of paid time off for full- or partial day absences.