I am a salaried employee, If I do not put in a full 40 hours a week because of an appt or such can my employer dock my pay or make me make those hours up by working overtime the following week?

Sure they can... you aren't entitled to the right to "make up time" in the same week much less the next week.

They can dock you or force you to take leave time.

And because you are sallaried... in most cases... there isn't overtime... if you need to work more hours to complete a task you are expected to work it... your pay scale reflects that.

If I have no vacation time left then that would be docking my pay for the week and my offer letter states I make one amount per year it does not indicate that is expected for a 40 hour week.

Are you sure on this? How do you know?

Because there were legal debates on who qualifies to be salaried and who doesn't in the last several years and its codified in law over trying to avoid overtime pay in some job classifications.

As a salaried employee you are EXPECTED to do a minimum of a 40 hour week, and at some employers 40 will get you considered for downsizing as you aren't making the effort people doing 50 or 60 hours are.

Also, I'm willing to bet you are also an AT-WILL employee and if you make a stink they can and will simply fire you. No they don't need a reason. Otherwise you would have a employment contract drawn up by a lawyer negotiated with their lawyers.

It's a fight you will lose. Its clear you are new to the working world... if you are bringing up an offer letter as a defense.

It doesn't HAVE to be spelled out... there are certain things that are assumed... this is one of them... or you would have been hired part-time..

Because there were legal debates on who qualifies to be salaried and who doesn't in the last several years and its codified in law over trying to avoid overtime pay in some job classifications.

As a salaried employee you are EXPECTED to do a minimum of a 40 hour week, and at some employers 40 will get you considered for downsizing as you aren't making the effort people doing 50 or 60 hours are.

Also, I'm willing to bet you are also an AT-WILL employee and if you make a stink they can and will simply fire you. No they don't need a reason. Otherwise you would have a employment contract drawn up by a lawyer negotiated with their lawyers.

Its a fight you will lose. Its clear you are new to the working world.....if you are bringing up an offer letter as a defense.

It doesn't HAVE to be spelled out....there are certain things that are assumed....this is one of them....or you would have been hired part-time..

I have been working in this industry for 20 yrs and this is the first time I was ever made to fill out a time sheet, let alone have to make up hours, I put in overtime as needed to fulfill my job. This is why I am asking, this is the first company that has ever done this to me.

I have been working in this industry for 20 yrs and this is the first time I was ever made to fill out a time sheet, let alone have to make up hours, I put in overtime as needed to fulfill my job. This is why I am asking, this is the first company that has ever done this to me.

You are lucky then... most don't. A work week is a work week. If they do ANY federal work... this becomes a very critical issue. Google up Martin Marrietta contract violations back in the 1980's... they lost a HUGE government contract over timesheet irregularities and were barred for a year of making any new bids.

I've worked as hourly AND in salaried positions for a number of companies for over 30 years.

Some can be real sticklers and very strict and some can be fairly relaxed about it. (I've worked at one that I had a 12 hour window each day to get my 40 in during the week, that was a lot of years ago)

But in the current economy... most are going to be sticklers as they have to watch the bottom line even closer.

As a new employee you are in a probationary period for a certain amount of time... but trust me... you won't be given the same latitude as someone that's been there for 10+ years will.

I'm going to partially disagree with smoothy here. You CANNOT be docked for working less than a day. However, if you do leave early, then your time off benefit (vacation etc.) can be docked for that time. Further, your company can require that you take a half day even if you only take a couple of hours.

Some companies are more flexible about this, others aren't. Like you, prior to working for my current company, my employers never bugged if I left a couple of hours early for an appointment or emergency. The company I currently work for, is anal about it. For example. A few months ago, I stopped for gas less than a mile away from my office. When I tried to start up again, my battery had died. So I called for road service to give me a boost (it was a gas only, no service station). I called the office to let them know. My boss called me back just before 9 to let me know if I couldn't get in before 9:30 (I start at 8:30), to take the morning off since I would be docked a half days vacation. And I'm usually in the office before 7:30 everyday.

If you have run out of vacation time, then there will be a policy for how to deal with that. You may have it docked against your allotment for next year. But again, they cannot dock your salary unless it is for a full day.