Help Wanted: Short shrift on short shift?
Wage laws generally cover two categories; exempt and nonexempt workers. But if you punch in expecting a full day's work and get laid off, the issue is moot and the rules no longer apply. Credit: iStock
For more information, contact the state Labor Department at 516-794-8195.
The answer is trickier if you were an exempt employee. Employers can't legally dock the pay of exempt employees when they are absent from the office for less than a full day. So if you were still employed, the company would have violated the law by not paying you for the full day. But the fact that you were laid off changes that.
"It's a moot point anyway, if he's laid off," said Irv Miljoner, who heads the Long Island office of the U.S. Department of Labor. Once you are laid off, the rules for exempt employees no longer apply, and the company doesn't have to pay you for the rest of the day.
Your company is actually giving you more than labor law requires because it doesn't always make you use your paid time off to cover missed hours.
As for requiring you to make up the time, that's risky business because the company would be treating you like an hourly employee, and that could trigger a loss of your exemption from overtime and minimum wage.
I look forward to even more excellent questions next year. Have a happy holiday season.
For more on exempt employees and salary requirements under federal law go to http://1.usa.gov/ISCm3x.
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