Can my salary be deducted even if I worked 60 hours a week and took a day off?
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Can my salary be deducted even if I worked 60 hours a week and took a day off?
I am a salary employee that makes $65,000 annually as a project manager for a large construction company. My employer and I had a verbal agreement that should I work extra time on weekends I could take a day off here and there to rest and spend time with my daughter. I worked 3 consecutive Saturdays and requested a Wednesday off. That week I took Wednesday off but I worked Saturday making a 5 day work week and amassed 61.25 hours on the clock. My employer informed me over text that if I did not use my 1 paid personal day allocated to me each year, I would have the pay from that week reduced by 1/5 my standard weekly salary. Is this legal?
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further muddy the water, the entire day I was off, I was still replying to
e-mails and text messages from other project managers with the company as well
as forwarding information from our trade partners, effectively I was working on
my day off, just remotely.
Asked on May 2, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Yes, it is legal--not fair, but legal.
Generally, for salaried workers, it does not matter how many or how few hours you work: you make the same pay for 25 hours as you do for 75.
But there is an exception: if a salaried worker misses an entire day (doesn't work at all) during his or her normal work week, the employer may reduce his or her weekly salary by the appropriate pro rata amount (e.g.one fifth, given the traditional 5-day work week). That is the only time that salaried workers can have their pay reduced, other than with consent (e.g. if they agree to a deduction to repay a loan from the company). Therefore, if you did take a full day off from your usual work week, the employer could legally deduct a days's worth of salary, unless you use some paid time off (PTO) to compensate.
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