Despite Punxsutawney Phil declaring an early spring, employers should continue to prepare for weather-related emergencies and their wage and hour implications. As with most of wage and hour-related determinations, employers should be mindful of the distinctions between their exempt and non-exempt workforce when assessing their obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and state and local laws, to pay employees as a result of weather-related emergencies.

Salaried Exempt Employees

Under the FLSA, employers may not deduct from the salary of an employee classified as exempt from overtime pay if the business closes for less than a full workweek due to inclement weather. Specifically, the pertinent regulations provide that “[a]n employee is not paid on a salary basis if deductions from the employee’s predetermined compensation are made for absences occasioned by the employer or by the operating requirements of the business. If the employee is ready, willing and able to work, deductions may not be made for time when work is not available.” See 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(a)(2).

While the “salary basis” regulation allows employers to make deductions from an employee’s salary “when an exempt employee is absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons, other than sickness or disability,” the Department of Labor has taken the position in at least two opinion letters that an employee’s absence as a result of a business closure does not constitute an absence “for...

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