Help Wanted: Exempt employee can be fired for refusing to work 6 days

DEAR CARRIE: My husband is an exempt employee at a large Long Island company. He has worked there for 10 years and earns about $65,000 annually. He and his colleagues each worked more than 200 hours of overtime the past year. Of course, they weren't compensated because of their exempt status. Now they must work Saturdays as well, for the foreseeable future. Here's my first question: Can my husband be legally fired if he doesn't comply with the new request? It will be impossible for him to do so because of his health issues caused by stress at work and his weekend elder-care responsibilities. That leads me to my other question: If he is fired because he refuses to work on Saturdays, would he be eligible for unemployment benefits? -- Overworked Hubby

DEAR OVERWORKED: Regarding your first question, yes, he could be legally fired if he refused to work the extra day. In fact, since New York is an employment-at-will state, employees who aren't covered by contracts can be legally fired for any reason at all.

And as you pointed out, he doesn't even have to be paid for the extra time because he is exempt, which means he doesn't have to be paid for all the hours he works. By contrast, nonexempt, or hourly employees, have to be paid for all the time they work. As for unemployment benefits, if your husband is fired "for cause," such as refusing to work on Saturdays, he probably wouldn't qualify for benefits.

Your husband's story is a reminder of how stretched some workplaces are. Some companies have opted to put off hiring and are stretching their staffs to the limit. They may save money, but they risk burnout and dissatisfaction among employees, as your husband's case illustrates.

DEAR CARRIE: I am an hourly sales associate for a large department store. During "Compliance Month" all associates have to complete three online training sessions. Two of the sections take about 15 minutes each, and one requires about 30 minutes. Here's the problem: We are encouraged to do the training at home on our own time. Management said that if too many associates use the store's computers during work hours, we won't have enough coverage on the sales floor. If associates don't have home computers or aren't computer savvy, they can use terminals in the office. Others have to use their home PCs. Since this training is required by the store and isn't government-mandated, shouldn't those of us who use our own computers be compensated for the time? -- Training Daze

DEAR TRAINING: Since you are hourly the training time counts as work, and you have to be paid. I am surprised that managers at a large department store haven't addressed that.

This topic has come up frequently since the recession and the slow economic recovery. And I keep hoping that each time I answer a question on the subject more managers will learn what their obligations are.

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Federal law says that the only way employers can legally justify not paying hourly employees for training is when it meets all four of the following criteria: It is voluntary, it is not job-related, no job-related work is being performed, and it is done outside normal hours. Based on the facts you presented, you should be paid for that training time. For more information, call the U.S. Labor Department at 516-338-1890 or 212-264-8185.