Ian has reminded us again that disasters happen. Employers need to be ready. So do employees and households.
In disaster situations (whether hurricanes, snow storms or an unexpected pandemic), employers sometimes have to consider the legal pay implications when businesses are closed and employees cannot come to work. Empathic employers who are able will continue to pay employees even when they cannot work due to a disaster.
Let’s address the legal obligations.
Whether the law requires that an employee be compensated even when a business is closed depends on the classification of the employee.
According to the Department of Labor, the employer is not obligated to pay a non-exempt (hourly) employee for hours not worked even if the employee was sent home or cannot work due to bad weather. This is the law — not necessarily what employers should do.
If an employee is properly classified as exempt from overtime, the answer on whether the employer must compensate the employee when the employee cannot work due to an office closure or disaster is — “it depends.”
According to Stuart Silverman, owner of the Law Offices of Stuart M. Silverman, PA, of Boca Raton, Fla.,the law changes for exempt employees because they are compensated based on a salary for a workweek, not hours. “Since the rule is that exempt employees must be paid for the entire week for any week that they work at all, or the employer risks losing the exemption, then if the workplace is closed for less than a week, the...
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