When a week of snow plows across the United States, it leaves a few important questions. Is travel to the workplace safe? Who absolutely needs to be there? And which employees will get paid?
How do I prepare for inclement weather days?
Having an inclement-weather policy answers all the questions above in advance for you and your employees. You’ll need to include the following information in your policy, which you can add to your employee handbook.
Defining inclement weather:
You, as the employer, must define “inclement weather” for your workplace that would warrant closure or remote work. This could include the following:
- adverse weather conditions (that make commuting to work or working outside dangerous),
- school district closures
- any similar factors
Communicating with your employees:
You will need to set a time and a communication channel, such as email or text. This will be where employees can expect updates from you and where they can notify their supervisors. This could be an hour before work begins, such as 7 AM if the work day begins at 8 AM. Supervisors must notify their employees at this time whether the workplace will be closed or will operate remotely. If the workplace is closed, the employee must notify their supervisor if they are unable to get to work.
Paying your employees:
Per the FLSA, you must pay your employee for time worked. But you are not required to pay for time missed. It depends on whether your employee is classified as non-exempt or exempt under the FLSA.
For Non-Exempt Employees:
Non-exempt employees typically receive hourly pay and qualify for overtime. As the employer, you must pay your employee for the hours they actually work, including partial days or hours. For example, if your non-exempt employee works 4 hours and you send them home early, you pay them only for those 4 hours.
However, in some states, the law requires you to pay your employee for a minimum number of hours if you send them home early. These reporting time pay laws, also known as “show-up” pay, vary by state, so review the applicable laws. These states include:
- California
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- These requirements apply only to a few non-exempt employees and to minors under special rules. Learn more here.
In most states, you can require employees to use paid time off to receive a full paycheck. However, the states listed above require you to pay your employees the minimum wage.
If you close the workplace or do not require your employee to report to work, you do not have to pay them.
For Exempt Employees:
Exempt employees typically earn a salary and do not qualify for overtime pay. As the employer, you must pay your employee a guaranteed salary to maintain their exempt status, regardless of inclement weather.
If you keep the workplace open despite inclement weather and your employee chooses to stay home, you may deduct pay, but only in full-day increments.
If you close the workplace due to weather for less than a week, you must pay the employee their full weekly salary if they performed any work that week. The only time your employee will not receive pay is if they did not work or if you closed the workplace for a full week.
How do inclement weather days impact overtime pay?
You may exclude inclement-weather day payments from the regular rate, but you must include guaranteed-day payments. Guaranteed-day payment rates—also known as “day rates”—mean you pay employees a flat sum for each day they work, regardless of the actual hours. Under the FLSA, you cannot count these payments against overtime compensation. If your employee is nonexempt, you must pay them 1.5 times their day rate for hours worked over 40 per week. So, if your employee shows up for work and you send them home early due to weather, you must still pay the full day’s rate, as well as any applicable overtime earned that day or that week.
What do I do for my employees on the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?
Consider only the days your employee would have been expected to work. For intermittent leave, do not deduct closure days; for full-week leave, count the whole week even if you closed the workplace. The calculation depends on the specific circumstances.
- If the workplace closes for at least a day and an employee is taking FMLA leave for a few hours or days per week:
- These closure days do not count against the employee’s FMLA entitlement—unless you would have expected the employee to work during the closure.
- If your business closes for part of the week and an employee is scheduled to take FMLA leave for an entire workweek:
- The entire week still counts against the employee’s FMLA entitlement.
- Whether the closure is planned or unplanned:
- You must provide FMLA leave regardless.
