Mass-Peculiarities: An Employers Guide to Wage & Hour Law in the Bay State 2022 Edition

86 | Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2022 ed. © 2022 Seyfarth Shaw LLP prohibiting workplace violence. 463 Unpaid disciplinary suspensions are appropriate only where imposed pursuant to a written policy applicable to all employees. 464 This exception is intended to permit employers to apply uniform progressive disciplinary rules to exempt and non-exempt employees and to assist employers in complying with laws that require them to take effective remedial action to address employee misconduct. 465 Importantly, any unpaid disciplinary suspension must be made in full-day increments; deductions for partial-day suspensions are not permitted pursuant to this exception. 466 Employers may also make deductions from an employee’s pay as a penalty for violating safety rules of major significance. 467 The infraction must relate to a rule that is necessary to prevent serious danger in the workplace, such as violating a prohibition against smoking in an explosives plant or oil refinery. 468 (2) Deductions for Personal Absences Deductions from pay are permissible when an exempt employee is absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons other than sickness or disability. 469 An employer may not deduct any amount from an exempt employee’s pay when the employee is absent only part of a day. 470 An employer may, however, take deductions from an employee’s vacation or leave bank in less than full-day increments, so long as the deductions do not affect the amount of salary paid to the employee. 471 (3) Deductions for Sickness or Disability An employer may make deductions from an employee’s pay for absences of one or more full days because of sickness or disability if the deductions are made in accordance with a bona fide plan, policy, or practice providing compensation for loss of salary because of illness. 472 The employer does not need to pay any portion of the employee’s salary for full-day absences for which the employee receives compensation under the employer’s plan, policy, or practice. 473 Further, the 463 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(b)(5). 464 Id. 465 Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees , 69 Fed. Reg. 22,171 (Apr. 23, 2004). 466 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(b)(5). 467 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(b)(4). 468 Id. 469 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(b)(1). 470 Id. 471 See Sect ion VI.A.2.a(5) for a detailed discussion of permissible deduct ions from an employee’s vacat ion or leave bank. 472 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(b)(2). 473 Id. Deduct ions from an employee’s salary are permissible for full-day absences that occur before the employee has qualified under an employer’s plan, policy, or pract ice, as well as for full-day absences taken by an employee after the employee has exhausted the available leave. For example, if an employer’s short -term disability policy allows for twelve weeks of leave beginning on the fourth day of an absence, an employer may make deduct ions from pay for the three days prior to qualifying for the leave and for any full-day absences following the twelve-week leave period.