Is it legal for the employer to deduct hours from a salaried employee, even though the employee has worked more than eight hours a day everyday and never received overtime pay, do to the fact that he/she is salary only. The employee wants to leave early one day of the week and employer threatened to deduct 4 hours out of check!

Can I dock employees' pay when they miss work?

Q: Can I dock an employee's salary for missed work days without jeopardizing his or her "exempt" status?

A: The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act does allow docking, depending on the duration of the absence — and the cause:
If the employee is absent a day or more for personal reasons, you may deduct from his or her pay.
If the employee is absent a day or more due to sickness or disability, you may make deductions, provided that you have a policy or practice of providing compensation for lost salary caused by sickness and disability, or if your company operates under a state or private sickness and disability insurance law or plan.
If the employee receives a full-week disciplinary suspension, you may deduct from his or her pay. You may deduct for suspensions of less than a week only if they were imposed in good faith for violating rules of major significance.
You may not deduct for absences due to court appearances or military leave (although you may offset any witness fees, jury duty pay, or military pay received by the employee). If the employee is absent for part of a day:
You may deduct pay if the employee is taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
You may require the employee to substitute accrued vacation or sick pay. If no accrued vacation or sick leave is available, however, you may not reduce the employee's pay.
Overall, you want to avoid excessive salary docking because it undermines the whole idea of having employees on a salary and makes them seem more like hourly workers.

NOTE: This column provides general information only. Consult your accountant, tax, or legal advisor about your particular situation.

Hello moisezz:

I think there are two questions you need to consider. In addition to the one you're asking (is it legal), you should also be asking whether it's worth it to fight over it.

A four hour a week deduction represents a 10% pay cut. So, if it were me, I'd argue over it. I don't think it's legal and I think you'd win that part. But, then he could just retaliate by firing you on the spot, and that's perfectly legal. That would be cool with me because I don't mind being unemployed, and, I'd rather be unemployed than to work for somebody like this guy.

excon

Yes it is legal to dock a salaried under certain conditions. excon make a good point about the consequences of fighting it

First, it depends on whether you're exempt or nonexempt under FLSA. If you're exempt, wages can not be deducted for any reason if you work any time during there company's defined work week (except your first and last weeks of employment). Salary really has nothing to do with it, as an exempt or nonexempt employee can be paid a salary. If you're nonexempt, pay can be deducted for time away from work. You must be paid overtime for any hours worked over 40 hours in the defined work week. California laws among other states vary.