Can an employer suspend an exempt employee without pay for disciplinary reasons?
Perhaps! Or: “It depends”, if you want us to use technical legal language.
If an employer suspends an exempt employee for less than a full workweek, the employee must be paid for the time, for the purpose of maintaining the employee’s exempt status.
Both the U.S. Department of Labor and the Labor Commissioner allow an exempt employee to be off a full workweek without pay.
Even if the suspension is for a full workweek, the Labor Commissioner raises the caveat that if such a suspension, without pay, reduces the employee’s monthly salary to an amount less than the statutory minimum, the exemption could be lost.
Employers also should be aware that if the exempt employee works part of the day, he or she must be paid for the whole day. Employers can fill in the missed part of the partial day, however, from available sick leave or vacation banks.
So, if circumstances arise where you feel you must suspend an exempt employee while an investigation of their conduct is undertaken, it may be prudent to make it “paid suspension”, to avoid such problems. It’s like buying insurance: pay a small amount now, in order to protect against the possibility of a substantially larger cost later.
The information presented is not intended to be, and does not constitute, “legal advice.” Because each situation varies, and only brief summary information is provided here, you should not use this information as a basis for action unless you have independently verified with your own counsel that it applies to your particular situation.
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