Home → OER Manual → Disciplinary Suspensions of FLSA Exempt Employees
Disciplinary Suspensions of FLSA Exempt Employees
MEMORANDUM
BUREAU OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
No.: 50 Revised
Date: December 30, 2003
Subject: Disciplinary Suspensions of FLSA Exempt Employees
To: All Holders of Employee Relations Manuals
From: Kenneth A. Walo, Director, Bureau of Employee Relations
This memorandum applies only to employees who are Range 22 or above and are exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In February of 1997 the US Supreme the Court ruled on the issue of disciplinary deductions in a case involving the so-called "salary basis" test for determining whether an employee is exempt [1] from the overtime pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). In doing so the Court offered some guidance to public employers as to what is required to maintain the exempt status of salaried employees.
The regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Labor state that an exempt employee "must receive his full salary for any week in which he performs any work without regard to the number of days or hours worked." In other words an exempt employee may not be subjected to suspensions without pay for less than blocks of one or more full work week. [2]
The above paragraphs do not relieve the employer of the need to follow applicable disciplinary policies and agreements when considering a suspension or other discipline. If you are in doubt about the appropriateness of a disciplinary penalty, please contact this Bureau.
IMPORTANT BULLETIN - TO BE RETAINED IN EMPLOYEE RELATIONS MANUAL
[1] If you have any question whether an employee is FLSA exempt, contact the Bureau of Human Resources.
[2] The only exception is that an exempt employee may be suspended without pay for less than one week as a penalty "in good faith for infractions of safety rules of major significance." Please contact this Bureau if you are contemplating suspension for less than a one work week block of an exempt employee for such infractions.
