Forfeiture of vacation time in addition to docking for lateness

Written company policy states that an hourly employee is considered to be tardy if s/he arrives more than five minutes after the scheduled starting time and will not be paid for that time or be permitted to make it up. In addition, for each set of five late arrivals, the employee will also be penalized by the forfeiture of one day's vacation time. Is this a legally proper policy?

1 answer  |  asked Apr 21, 2004 10:18 AM [EST]  |  applies to New York

Answers (1)

David M. Lira
Docking of Hourly Employees

Employers are permitted to dock HOURLY employees for being late. (Employers can even dock salaried employees for lateness but there could be other consequences related to overtime as a result.) They are further permitted to discipline employees for being late, and there are no limitations in the law as to what that discipline could be. An employer could, for example, legitimately terminate an employee for lateness, even one lateness. If termination is permissible discipline, discipline in the form of loss of vacation time is mild in comparison.

posted by David M. Lira  |  Apr 22, 2004 09:36 AM [EST]

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