Who Gets Paid on a Snow Day?

It’s that time of year! You can’t turn on the news and not see a winter weather advisory for somewhere in the country.

Here is a question we get every year: Do we have to pay employees if it snows, and the office is closed? What about if the office is open but the employee can’t get to work?

The Short Answer

It depends on whether these employees are exempt or non-exempt and, potentially, what your employee handbook’s leave policy states.

Let's break it down and consider two different snow-day situations: (1) office is closed versus (2) office is open, but an employee is snowed-in.

Snow Day Situation 1: The office is closed.

1A: Exempt Employee

As a general rule, exempt employees must be paid for the full workweek when they perform any work during these specific 7 consecutive days.

The Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (W&H) specifically forbids deductions from exempt employees’ salaries for a day's pay when the employer closes the office due to inclement weather. As long as the employee is “ready, willing and able” to work, that day’s absence was not caused by the employee’s own actions.

If you have a paid time off policy that permits you, as the employer, to deduct from an exempt employee's accrued and unused leave bank on snow days, then the employee instead would be using PTO for the snow day instead of working.

Example

Ali is an exempt employee of Sampleco Inc. Ali is at work Monday through Thursday. It snows a foot on Thursday night and the office is closed officially on Friday., Ali will be paid for Friday because she worked at some point during the workweek. If Sampleco’s policy allows it, they can require Ali to use accrued and unused PTO for snow-day pay because she is an exempt employee. If Ali has exhausted her PTO, she still must be paid for the snow day because she is not choosing to take a full personal day but is required to despite being ready, willing and able to work. One solution is for Sampleco to allow Ali to work remotely or to advance her 8 hours of PTO and require it be made up over the coming weeks.

The Bottom Line

You can't deduct from an exempt employee’s salary because you closed the office due to inclement weather. You can deduct from the leave bank to fulfill those hours not worked as long as your employee handbook’s leave policy states this clearly. It is important to understand these nuances as you make your way through the blinding blizzard that is the FLSA.

1B: Non-exempt Employee:

If the office is closed and the non-exempt employee performs no work, you do not have to pay them. If they perform some work, then they must be paid for the time they worked.

Example

Bonnie is a non-exempt employee. On Friday, she drives to the office through a snowstorm, clocks in, organizes her tools, and then learns the office is closed. She then clocks out and leaves. Bonnie must be paid for the 10 minutes that she was clocked in.

The Bottom Line

Non-exempt employees are only paid for time actually worked.

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Snow Day Situation 2: The Office is open. The employee is snowed-in.

2A: Exempt Employee

If the office is open and the exempt employee chooses not to report to work, the employer may deduct from the employee’s salary for that day’s work. The employee made a personal decision not to come to work; i.e., they took a full day absence for personal reasons. If they have PTO, you may require or allow them to use it. If they are out of PTO, you can make them take it unpaid. Thus, an employee who chooses not to come to work on a day the office is open could be out of a day’s pay.

2B: Non-exempt Employee

Non-exempt employees are only paid when they perform work, and a snowed-in employee performs no work. Therefore, the employee won’t be paid for the snow day. If the employer's policy permits it, the non-exempt employee can choose to use PTO for the day.

What About Teleworking?

Whether an employee is exempt or non-exempt, if he/she works from home during the snow day, that time counts as hours-worked for which he/she would be paid.

Other Pitfalls

State laws may also come into play, which require, for instance, pay for employees who report to work and are turned away. Currently, Virginia does not have a “reporting in” pay requirement, meaning employers are not obligated to compensate employees who report to work but are sent home due to inclement weather or other closures.

Be mindful of safety concerns too. If it is obviously too unsafe for a reasonable person to commute to work in the weather, and the employee’s duties are not essential to health or safety, then don’t pressure the employee to come in.

As always, update your inclement weather, PTO, and telework policies regularly and contact a member of the Labor & Employment team if you have any questions or would like us to conduct a policy review.