{"id":4740,"date":"2016-04-04T11:47:41","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T16:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/smallbusiness\/employment-law-and-human-resources\/pay-docking-for-salaried-employees.html"},"modified":"2024-12-09T06:20:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T11:20:00","slug":"pay-docking-for-salaried-employees","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/smallbusiness\/employment-law-and-human-resources\/pay-docking-for-salaried-employees.html","title":{"rendered":"Pay Docking for Salaried Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pay Docking for Salaried Employees<\/h1>\n
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\n By FindLaw Staff<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Aviana Cooper, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last reviewed\n
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Pay docking is when employers withhold portions of fixed salaries from employees who exhaust their sick days, take absences, participate in jury service, or violate company policies. Although these deductions are allowed, employers should abide by the rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to ensure that those deductions abide by the law while protecting workers\u2019 standard earnings.<\/p>\n

Pay Docking<\/b><\/h2>\n

"Pay docking" occurs whenever a business owner takes part of an employee’s wages. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)<\/a> permits pay docking for hourly workers under certain circumstances, such as violations of company policy. State laws may prohibit these actions. For instance, California law forbids docking an employee’s pay for any reason.<\/p>\n

Business owners should check their state employment laws before imposing disciplinary rules involving pay docking or suspension.<\/p>\n

Permissible Pay Docking<\/b><\/h3>\n

The FLSA permits pay docking for exempt employees. Exempt employees, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)<\/a>, are generally paid a fixed salary regardless of hours worked and cannot have their pay docked for partial-day absences. Docking is permissible only for specific reasons, such as full-day absences for personal reasons or disciplinary suspensions.<\/p>\n

Some examples of permissible pay docking include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n