Right now we’re in the early phases of what is probably the biggest “remote work” experiment in American history. With businesses telling employees to work remotely, it’s a good idea to take a few minutes and explain how that can affect your pay.
Hourly employees…
If you are an hourly-rate employee, you only get paid for the time you spend working.
If you’re working remotely, your employer is probably going to ask you to fill out time-sheets through your regular time portal if it is available remotely. If it’s not available remotely, then they’ll probably ask you to fill out a separate time sheet or to report it in some other way.
Be mindful of this. If your employer is not tracking your time, they’re probably violating Department of Labor regulations and may be committing wage theft. If your employer is using an unreliable method for tracking time, you may be getting unfairly shorted on your pay.
Whether your employer requires it or not, keep close track of your hours worked remotely! Records that you keep from the time working remotely could become important evidence if your employer needs to be held accountable for wage theft.
Salaried employees…
If you’re a salaried employee exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA (and this is a much more complicated question than this article covers), your employer usually needs to pass the “salary basis test” in order to maintain that exemption.
Your employer may NOT dock your salary just because they feel like you got less work done remotely.
Your employer may NOT dock your pay for partial days of work.
Your employer may NOT dock your pay for a day if you perform any work that day. Phone calls, text messages, Slack chat, emails, etc. all qualify as work.
If you remotely work a partial day, while your employer can’t dock your pay for that partial day, they may be able to eat into your sick time / paid time off / vacation time for that partial day. Usually this is going to require that they have a well established (probably published) policy, plan, or practice of doing so.
When in doubt, talk to a lawyer…
These sorts of issues are complicated and the details matter, so don’t take this article as legal advice. Your situation is unique and the regulations are nuanced enough that particular attention to your case matters. Before you confront your boss or march into HR to make big demands, talk to a lawyer who knows this stuff.
Ramsland Law offers free consultations for potential clients in Georgia and Indiana.