Do I need to pay an employee for full day if he walks off job?

Get Legal Help Today

Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

Do I need to pay an employee for full day if he walks off job?

An employee walked off the job after 5 hours, went home and sent his resignation email. He put 5 hours of labor and 3 hours of leave without pay on his timesheet. Am I required to pay him for the full 8 hours or only 5? Our headquarters are in NJ, but this employee was working in MD office.

Asked on August 11, 2011 New Jersey

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

Was this a salaried employee or an hourly one?

If he was a salaried employee, you need to pay him for a full day of work; salaried employees do not have their pay reduced on an hourly basis, but rather would only lose a day of pay for a full day's absence (assuming no PTO used to compensate). Since this employee was there for 5 hours, he should be paid for a whole day.

If he was an hourly employee, you need only to pay him for the time actually worked (and, if he'd validly used PTO hours, for those). If he left after 5 hours and used 3 hours of unpaid leave, you'd owe him for the 5 hours of work.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

Get Legal Help Today

Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption