I work in software development where pretty much everyone is salaried (no pay for OT hours), and 50, 60, even 80 hour weeks are routine. I’m mostly used to it, but there’s one thing that always bothers me. I’ve been doing 60-70 hours weeks for the last month or so. I’ve already worked about 50 hours the first four days of this week (Mon - Thursday). Yesterday I came down with a cold, and so I called in sick today. I’ll do an eight hour day or so on Sunday.
So this week I’ll work 5 days, almost 60 hours total, and I’ll get charged for a PTO day. Is this legal? Not all of it, just being charged for a day off for missing time during ‘core hours’ when I’m still working well over a normal week when taken as a whole.
While I’m used to working 60 and not getting paid for the extra 20, something about working 60 and actually getting charged for 8 feels lousy.
I don’t know the exact answer to your question, but I can tell you that many companies misinterpret the law on exempt employees. Many employees who are treated as exempt should actually be considered hourly and receive overtime. In California, there are specific rules about the level of responsibility/authority you have and your salary level that might put you in a non-exempt category.
It’s worth talking to an employment attorney or hotline. I know some software developers in CA who made out quite well on back pay when their companies were called on it.
[ul]
[li]Are you FLSA exempt or not?[/li][li]Do you have a written contract?[/li][li]Is there an HR employee handbook that spells out employment practices?[/li][li]Is your income about a specific amount?[/li][li]Are you defined as a “Professional?”[/li][/ul]
You may want to look into California labor law, and federal labor law, especially under FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act).
Generally speaking it sounds like you are FLSA exempt. The Department of Labor issued an opinion letter on PTO back in 2005 concerning FLSA exempt employees. Not being a labor lawyer nor your specific details it’s difficult to offer something substantial. Anecdotally, I experienced something similar in a previous job, while living in California. \
This is pretty common in the software industry (in CA at least). There is a single bucket of paid time off days, and you choose how to use them. Vacation, sick day, mental health day - it’s all the same. I find it cuts down on resentment among employees when someone abuses sick time to head to the beach.
I work in a hospital in Chicago and all our days off - vacation, sick, holidays - are in one big PTO category. This also helps when you have some people (office staff, clinic staff) who work 9-5 M-F and get the major holidays off, and then you have hospital staff who need to cover the place around the clock regardless of the day or the hour.
If you earn more than that, you can still be considered non-exempt based on the type of specific work that you are doing. In addition to the minimum compensation requirement to be considered exempt, your duties must meet certain criteria which is detailed here. If you do not perform the majority of your functions listed in those criteria, you would be considered non-exempt and subject to overtime, etc.
To your specific question, if you are in fact exempt (salary), then it is perfectly appropriate for you to use your vacation, PTO, etc. for days you are not working. Exempt employees have no consideration of hours worked, so there is no credit for hours over and above 8, merely work days. You work, that’s a work day, you get paid your normal rate. You don’t work, that’s not a workday and you don’t get paid unless you take your accrued vacation/leave/PTO.
Huh. I’m in Seattle. Every company I’ve worked at here the rule is basically, “we don’t count sick days for anything, but if its going to be over a week or so, or if you take so many days you can’t get your tasks done we need to have a chat about it”.
I’ve also worked in jobs that can easily be worked from home, so most of the time a sick day doesn’t necessarily mean a “day spent doing no work”.
It has been my understanding that in California, if you are a salaried “computer professional” (i.e. programmer/systems analyst and that sort of thing, the actual definition I don’t have with me) then you are paid for every hour you work, at straight time. Your weekly salary is divided by 40 and that is the amount you are paid for each hour over 40 that you work in a calendar week. This does not apply if you manage other people.
I know because I am in this category myself. I didn’t even seek it out, my company changed my status on their own several years ago, when this law came into effect.
So unless your job is exempt from this requirement for some reason, your company may be in violation of the law.
Roddy
One correction to Roderick Femm - if you are not an exempt employee in CA, your overtime pay is 1.5 times your normal salary (or 2x for hours over 12 in a day). Otherwise, correct. A lot of companies don’t realize (or purposely ignore) the strict requirements about managing people to be considered exempt.
Apart from the question of whether it’s legal, the charging of a sick day as PTO might be negotiable. Under the circumstances, your manager might be willing to look the other way, or to give you unreported comp time.