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Some salaried/exempt managers believe the employer doesn't have any right to require them to be at work during certain hours or set any basic schedule parameters. Can anyone tell me if this is true? We give our managers lots of leeway and discretion but some of them seem to have abusing this privilege and we would like to be able to implement at least basic hours when we expect them to be in the office. Our normal office hours are from 8 am to 5 pm.
These staff don't have to clock in and out as do the non-exempt staff but we do ask them to complete time cards showing time they took such as sick or holiday or vacation time. I believe this to be OK.
Thank you
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I've not seen anyone reply to this, interestingly, as this is a common problem. I spoke to the Labor Law helpline a few weeks ago on this same subject, and received a response that exempt employees cannot be told what time to be in & out. This answer makes it seem that employers must accept a "loosey goosey" (for lack of a better term) schedule from our exempt employees. That definitely poses a problem, as we do have business expectations of our staff. Although many job descriptions qualifiy employees as "exempt" that should not allow them the right to come and go at their leisure. We, as employers, must be able to set expectations for our employees to be there for the bulk of our business hours. Anything less than that is detrimenting the success of the company. Most of our staff, mostly management and supervisors are here all hours of the day & night, and Saturdays, just to keep things humming. If they could pick and choose their hours, we would not be successful in taking care of our business.
I'd like to see if the moderator of this site could reply, so all of us are clear.
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Exempt employees are paid to perform a specific job, and are paid for doing that job. This does not mean that they can come and go as they please. The issue is what does the person do, and what specific time requirements result from what the individual does?
For example, if you have an exempt employee who manages other employees, it would make sense that the manager must be available during the hours those employees work--otherwise, they would not be available to manage their staff.
If you have outside sales staff, they should be at work between core hours that the businesses to whom they are selling are open--usually 8 to 5.
If you have exempt staff who provide support to others in the organization--human resources for example--they would need to be available during normal business hours.
Do not confuse this with the issue of time keeping. Exempt employees do not "punch in and out" as do hourly/non-exempt employees. However, that does not mean that their job doesn't require their presence at work during specific work hours.
What works for one exempt employee will not work for all--if you have computer software designers (who are exempt), you might prefer that they not be in the office when your computer is being used by others, and so you might allow them to work in the evening. But you would not be able to allow other exempt employees this flexibility, because they supervise other employees, or provide support to other employees/customers.
It is important that your written job descriptions details specific job duties and responsibilities and include information about work hours.
Susan Kemp, Esquire
Forum Moderator
California Chamber of Commerce
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