The information provided are just suggestions not regulations and only valid at the time of writing. Please stay in tune with your local and state authorities.
Wage-and-hour laws: FLSA regulations establish very specific guidelines on when you need to and do not need to pay employees. To stay in compliance, be sure that you are paying employees correctly as determined by their pay status (hourly or salary) and classification (exempt or non-exempt) as well as any commitments or agreements you may have with them.
- Hourly, non-exempt employees are only paid for time actually worked so they usually do not need to be paid if they are sent home or not called into work at any point.
- Salaried, exempt employees must be paid their full salary for any week in which they do any work with a few exceptions. One exemption test is being paid a salary (defined as “a wage guarantee” to cover time worked in an established increment of time) so reducing their salary for a partial week when they are willing and able to work may jeopardize their exempt status (therefore making them non-exempt and entitled to overtime). To be in compliance, exempt employees must be paid their full salary for any week in which they perform any work unless they are not willing and able to work.
- Salaried, non-exempt employees are paid a salary (a “wage guarantee”) so are entitled to their full week’s salary when they work. However, since they are non-exempt, reducing their salary to reflect the reduced hours works would not jeopardize any exemption so it may be possible. [Note: If you choose to reduce their salary for reduced weeks, you should revisit your pay practices, possibly moving them to hourly.]
Determine if you are going to require employees to use all of their PTO during a quarantine or business closing or if you will allow them to take the time unpaid: Some companies require employees to use all of their available PTO for any absence while some allow employees to take the unexpected time off unpaid, both have pros and cons:
- Requiring employees to use all available PTO when time off is out of their control:
- Pro: Controls how many days off the employee will take during the year so you will not be understaffed at any point.
- Con: May create an incentive for employees to show up sick in order to preserve PTO.
- Con: Forces employees to cancel future plans such as vacation or scheduled surgery.
- Not requiring employees to use all available PTO when time off is out of their control:
- Pro: Does not penalize employees for any time off that is out of their control
- Con: May stretch your staffing needs as employees will not be working the number of days expected within a year
As a compromise, consider giving employees a set number of days off without pay or penalty but allow them the option to substitute PTO available with them knowing this will reduce the time they have off later in the year.
Protect the confidentiality of your employees: If you have employees who become ill or who you are worried about due to medical conditions, be sure to keep all communication and records confidential. Do not tell anyone outside of the “need-to-know” group except with the employee’s permission.
Remember employment is at-will: Employees not under a contract are free to look for another job at any time, including when the office is closed, so you may lose good employees before work can resume. Open communication during these uncertain times may help reduce this possibility.
Affinity HR Group Inc. and its consultants are not attorneys and cannot provide legal advice. Use of this document may or may not conform to legal standards. Please contact your legal counsel with any concerns related to this document or any advice/support provided by Affinity HR Group Inc.