Bookkeeper classifed as salaried, treated as exempt when it suits employer

D

Diamethyst

New Member
Jurisdiction
Iowa
I recently started a new job working as a bookkeeper for a family-owned company in central Iowa. My duties do not strictly include bookkeeping as I am also expected to assist our dispatcher with incoming calls. I have no independent discretion over anything.

We are paid on a salary. We are expected to work at least 8 hours a day and I usually put in over 9 because answering phones takes time away from other duties that I then have to stay to work on after the dispatcher leaves. We do not get overtime; we are treated as exempt in that respect. We are paid biweekly and expected to put in at least 80 hours per pay period.

I am also a Veteran. I submitted paperwork requesting Veteran's Day off, along with time calculations showing that because of the way that we work pretty much straight through the day, I will still have 80 hours in for the pay period and therefore my pay should not be docked for taking the day off. This evening my supervisor came in to my office, told me he got the request and was fine with it so long as I understood that I would not be paid for that Friday. In other words, they are expecting me to still work the 80 hours that I will put in doing 9 hours a day for the 9 days I will be there through the pay period, but only be paid for 72 hours since I asked for that Friday off. His reasoning was that every other employee who was still within their 60 day probation had their pay docked for days they had to take off when they had no vacation time to cover them. Am I wrong in thinking that because they are treating us as exempt and because I can and will still be putting in 80 hours for that pay period, I should receive my full pay and not be docked for the day off?
 
If your salary is over $684 per week or $35,568 per year you are not just "treated" as exempt from overtime, you ARE exempt from overtime.

Does your salary exceed those amounts?

If you work an extra hour a day to perform duties required by your employer, that's the job.

The number of hours you work in any given pay period is irrelevant.

Your employer can make whatever rules about days off that he wants.

When you have accrued vacation days or paid time off you'll be paid for Veteran's Day 2023.

If you are still in your 60 day probation period I suggest that this not something you want to risk your job for.

Though you are free to seek employment elsewhere.
 
The FLSA expressly gives employers permission to dock even an exempt employee who takes a day off for personal reasons. Doesn't matter how many hours you already worked in the pay period. If you are exempt (and that's a different question we'll address in a minute) the number of hours you work in a week is totally irrelevant. You are not paid on the basis of hours worked; you are paid on the basis of your value to the company. But there are six situations in which even an exempt employee can be docked, and taking a full day off for personal reasons is one of those six.

Jack has quoted you the salary floor for the state of California. In most states, including Iowa, the salary floor is $455. However, it takes more than earning over the salary floor (whether that floor is $455 or $684) to be exempt. Your job duties must also meet the definition of at least one exempt category.

https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/fs17a_overview.pdf

But whether you are exempt or non-exempt, your employer may LEGALLY dock you for a day that you take off for personal reasons.
 
adjusterjack said:
If your salary is over $684 per week or $35,568 per year you are not just "treated" as exempt from overtime, you ARE exempt from overtime.

Does your salary exceed those amounts?

If you work an extra hour a day to perform duties required by your employer, that's the job.

The number of hours you work in any given pay period is irrelevant.

Your employer can make whatever rules about days off that he wants.

When you have accrued vacation days or paid time off you'll be paid for Veteran's Day 2023.

If you are still in your 60 day probation period I suggest that this not something you want to risk your job for.

Though you are free to seek employment elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Since when was a salary above a certain level the ONLY requirement to determine whether someone is exempt or not? Are you telling me that a receptionist can be classified as exempt so long as they are paid over the amount you referenced?

Also, an exempt employee is supposed to be paid a flat wage regardless of how many hours they work. So how can an employer legally dock pay for time away from work if they're supposed to be paid their flat wage regardless of whether they work 40 hours in a week or not?

Directly from the Department of Labor website:

Fact Sheet #17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer & Outside Sales Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) | U.S. Department of Labor
 

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