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Time off with salaried employees
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Time off with salaried employees
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I have an employee who is pregnant and have taken time off for the last 2 weeks due to "not feeling well", " "colds", " Doctor's appointment" ( each week) and beacuse of these the number of patients s
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Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » Time off with salaried employees
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Time off with salaried employees
posted at 9/10/2009 2:05 PM EDT
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Posts: 5
First: 2/22/2002 Last: 9/15/2009 |
I have an employee who is pregnant and have taken time off for the last 2 weeks due to "not feeling well", " "colds", " Doctor's appointment" ( each week) and beacuse of these the number of patients she is expected to see in a given day have decreased. She accumulates hours for PTO, which is used for sick & vacation. Should I use her PTO for these "abscences" whether half day or full day? If she does not have any accumulated hours to use, is it legal to decrease her salary within that period in lieu of the PTO? What about her Doctor's appointment? Can I use those days she is not able to see patients because she has to see a doctor that she scheduled? I want to make sure there is no discrimination issues because she is pregnant.
Thank you for your help |
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Time off with salaried employees
posted at 9/11/2009 4:33 AM EDT
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Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Is she exempt? If so you can only dock her pay for full days missed for sick reasons and only then if you have a bonafide sick plan (generally defined as more than 5 or 6 paid sick days per year). And you can dock her pay for FULL days missed for personal reasons.
You can however dock any PTO bank (sick or vacation) just so you keep her salary whole on any day that she worked even a small amount of time. One caveat -- if she is using FMLA time for the sick time or doctor's appointments related to her pregnancy, that amount CAN be docked in increments. It is one of the few reasons docking pay from exempts is allowed. |
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Time off with salaried employees
posted at 9/11/2009 4:34 AM EDT
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Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
As to the pregnancy discrimination part, as long as you are treating her the same as someone who say has broken their leg or has any other medical condition, you are fine. You just can't treat pregnancy differently than other medical conditions.
So if another employee broke a leg and required multiple dr visits/therapy and missed work, how would you handle it? Handle her the same way and you will be fine. |
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Time off with salaried employees
posted at 9/11/2009 7:40 AM EDT
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Posts: 5
First: 2/22/2002 Last: 9/15/2009 |
Follow up questions ;
What she has signed is 4 hrs per month accumulation for PTO( sick/vacation). This is what she signed when she was hired- If she missed 3 days or more of work in any given month, her pay will be prorated depending on number of missed days. I am not sure if any of the above is a"bonafide sick plan" as you stated. So that I understood what you meant- if she is salaried(exempt) which she is, ONLY if she missed FULL day is when I can dock her pay and ONLY if she does not have enough PTO hours OR if she does not want to use her PTO hours. Is that right? And if she filed for FMLA, and missed work either full day or part of the work day, I can use her pTo hours ? OR dock her pay? Just wnat a clarification Thank you |
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Time off with salaried employees
posted at 9/11/2009 10:14 AM EDT
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Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
(1) FMLA hours can be docked in any increment from pay if not paid for by paid timeoff -- so if she takes 2 hours to go to the doctor, she can take it as paid time off if she had enough OR take it unpaid if that is allowed under your company policy, but it could still count against her FMLA 12 week allotment. (Our company policy doesn't allow for an employee to take unpaid time unless they have used all paid timeoff). (2) If it is not FMLA and not a full day, you can only dock her paid timeoff balance, you can NOT dock her pay. If she doesn't have enough PTO, you can discipline her or take her PTO negative, but you have to pay her. (3) If it is not FMLA and IS a full day for another sickness, then as long as you have provided 5-6 days of paid sick time that have been used already, you should be okay to dock her pay for the whole day. (4) If it is not FMLA and IS a full day for any other personal reason, you can dock her pay for the full day. One last thing, if it is not FMLA, you could require her to take the whole day off and dock her pay for it. Under FMLA, however, you can not force an employee to take more time than they actually need to take. |
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