Figuring out employers' snow policies

DEAR CARRIE: I work at a company with 65 employees. For the most part, the company's inclement-weather policy seems fair. If it snows and we don't make it into work, we get to use a personal or sick day in order to get paid. Or if we come to work and the company decides to close early, we get paid for four hours, even if we work fewer hours. But here's the part of the policy that's upsetting: If the company doesn't open, we are forced to use a personal or sick day to get paid. I don't understand why we have to use one of our personal days. Is this correct? -- Snow Job?

DEAR SNOW JOB:  It's legal.

"There are no federal wage and hour rules prohibiting this," said Irv Miljoner, who heads the Long Island office of the U.S. Labor Department. "A company's granting of such benefits and entitlements is subject to its own policies," he said.

The policy would be illegal under state labor laws or under federal anti-discrimination statutes if it violated a union or employment agreement or if it were discriminatory. Short of those factors, the company can call the shots for bad-weather policy.

DEAR CARRIE: I am an exempt employee. My job is done through data entry, and I receive all directives through the company e-mail from my supervisor, who is in another building. Because of the weather I was unable to drive to work for several days, so I offered to work from home if the company could set me up to work remotely.

My immediate supervisor agreed, but her boss balked because she said company policy requires employees to use a personal or vacation day if they don't report to work during a weather emergency or if they opt to telecommute that day, as I wanted to do. Since I was working from home, can the company legally charge me a vacation or personal day? -- Unpaid Work?

DEAR UNPAID WORK: Assuming you are truly an exempt worker, here's how Miljoner of the Labor Department sizes up your situation:

"The person says he was unable to drive to work, so I am presuming he did not work all day [at the office] and the company was open for business," he said. "There is some mention of working from home, but it's unclear if the person actually did; in any case, the company did not allow work from home. So in essence, there was no work performed, suffered or permitted [the legal term], for that full day."

Furthermore, he said that federal regulations allow a company to dock an exempt employee's wages for a full day's absence or allow the docking of a vacation or personal day based on the employer's policy.

On the other hand, the pay of exempt employees couldn't be legally docked if they missed less than a full day. Exempt employees fall into the administrative, executive, professional and outside-sales category. Unlike hourly workers, who are nonexempt, they don't have to be paid for all the hours they work, and they don't have to be paid overtime. But if the company illegally deducts their pay, then the employer loses those money-saving exemptions.

DEAR CARRIE: I work as a home health-care aide. The agency that employs me requires employees to work holidays like Christmas and New Year's Day, but it doesn't offer any holiday pay. Instead we earn straight time. Is this legal?  -- Straight Skinny?

DEAR STRAIGHT SKINNY: Yes, it's legal. Companies aren't required to pay premium rates for holidays unless they promise to. You could qualify for overtime pay if you work more than 40 hours a week, but your eligibility would depend on the type of work you largely do as a home-health aide.

For more on fringe benefits and state labor law, CLICK HERE to link to  labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/faq.shtm

For more on home-health care federal labor laws CLICK HERE to go to www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs25.pdf