Here is what I found
But as Ohioguy said they can terminate you with the employ at will law.
Improper Salary Docking Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
If an employer makes deductions from employee pay, under the law, that employee may no longer be considered to be paid on a salary basis. As a result, the employer may owe the employee overtime. The FLSA permits employers to make only a limited number of pay deductions before the employee is considered nonexempt. The deductions allowed are deductions for a full day or for violations of safety rules. In a recent case, the judge held that an employee can also be considered nonexempt if the employer has a policy that would lead to salary deductions, even if the employer made no actual deductions. In this case, the employee handbook included policies that could result in wage deductions violations such as making personal phone calls or dress code violations. Ergo v. International Merchant Services, Inc. Case No.04-06789 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 13, 2007).
Court Rejects Disciplinary Deductions from Exempt Employee Pay
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld that the docking of an exempt employee's pay for disciplinary infractions can jeopardize the employee's exempt status. The court also limited the circumstances under which employers may correct their mistakes retroactively to avoid losing the exemptions.
Does your organization have a policy that docks employees for disciplinary reasons? Have you applied that policy to your salaried exempt employees? If you answered “yes,” you may have violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), jeopardizing the exempt status of that employee as well as all other salaried exempt employees subject to the policy. And, according to a recent court ruling, even if you catch the error and correct it, you still may be liable for back overtime pay and penalties. In Kenneth A. Takacs, et al. v. Hahn Automotive Corporation, No. 99-4431 (6th Cir. 4/13/01), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that maintaining a policy that allows the pay of exempt employees to be docked for disciplinary infractions is evidence that an employer did not intend to pay exempt employees on a salary basis. It also ruled that the “window of corrections” defense is available only to employers who can demonstrate that they intended to pay employees on a salary basis.
Company Docked Managers for Rules Violations [Download Free Policies]
In this case, the employer acquired another company in 1993 that had a policy subjecting managerial employees to suspensions without pay for misconduct on the job. The employer did not issue new policies after the purchase. In the following 18-month period, seven managers at the purchased company were suspended without pay for disciplinary reasons and, on another 12 occasions, managers received letters threatening them with suspension without pay because of rules violations. As a result of an unrelated lawsuit, the employer discovered the problems with the suspension policy, rescinded it, and reimbursed the managers who had been suspended without pay.
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Court Rejects Disciplinary Deductions from Exempt Employee Pay