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Should Employees Get Paid For Missing Work In Bad Weather?

This week across the country, 16 below zero temperatures, ice storms, and blizzards are shutting down schools and businesses. Thousands of employees are missing work and wondering if they’ll be getting paid while building snowmen and drinking hot chocolate.

Non-exempt Employees

These are your regular hourly employees – you only ever have to pay them when they work. So, no, you don’t have to pay them when they can’t get the car out of the driveway. Non-exempt employees are only paid when they clock in for work.

Exempt Employees

These are your salaried employees – you do have to pay them if your business shuts down. So, if no one comes in to open up shop, you’ll have to pay your employees anyway. And, it is the opinion of the Department of Labor, that under inclement weather situations, if the doors remain open and your employees don’t show up at all, you can doc them a whole day’s absence for “personal reasons.” This does not have to be paid as vacation or any kind of PTO. This is an unpaid day. If your employees do manage to show up, even just before closing, you can’t doc them at all, not even for the time they were late.

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