Just as the astronauts in the classic 1995 film Apollo 13 devise a cunning strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth, business managers and bookkeepers are tasked with the mission of navigating FLSA compliance and employee leave. Both missions are fraught with challenges. Under the FLSA, an exempt employee’s salary is not subject to reduction because of variations in quality or quantity of the work performed. Teachers, for example, are exempt under the FLSA if their primary duty is teaching, tutoring, instructing, or lecturing in the activity of imparting knowledge, and if they are employed and engaged in this activity as a teacher in an educational establishment.
The FLSA carves out several exceptions for the prohibition against deductions from pay for exempt employees. For example, deductions may be made for exempt employees who are absent for one or more full days for personal reasons other than sickness or disability. Additionally, exempt employees do not need to be paid for any workweek in which the exempt employee does not perform any work. If the exempt employee is taking unpaid leave under the FMLA, the District is also not required to pay the full salary for weeks the employee is absent.
You may be thinking “wait, does this mean partial day contract deductions or dock days are impermissible under the FLSA?” Correct. The FLSA views such partial day deductions as an indication the employee should be non-exempt and subject to overtime considerations, etc. If an exempt employee has exhausted all sick and personal leave and is absent for less than a day, a business manager or bookkeeper is not allowed to contract deduct or dock the employee’s salary for less than a full day. Partial day deductions should not be made from an exempt employee’s salary when the employee misses less than a full workday and does not have accrued leave available. The FLSA contains a regulatory “window of correction” which allows an employer, such as a school district, to restore the affected employees’ exemptions under the FLSA by reimbursing the employee his or her lost wages and promising to comply with the salary basis regulation in the future.
If you have any questions about the FLSA, please feel free to contact Karen, Steve, Bobby, Coady, Jordan, Tyler or Sara at (402) 804-8000, or send everyone an email at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com.