7.3 Safe Harbor Policy for Exempt Employees

As a faculty member, you are required and expected to devote all your time to teaching and instruction and are therefore considered exempt as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. FNU employees classified as exempt are not legally entitled to overtime pay for hours worked in excess of forty (40) in a work week.

As a general rule, exempt employees are paid a pre-determined salary in which they perform work, regardless of the quality of their performance, or the number of hours worked during that work week. However, an employee need not be paid for any work week in which that employee performs no work.

This policy sets forth the circumstances when deductions can be made from a non-teaching exempt employee’s salary (in addition to tax withholdings, Social Security, Medicare, insurance contributions and other deductions authorized by the employee). Employees are advised to check their pay stubs and are required to report any mistakes to the Human Resources Department. Inadvertent mistakes will be corrected promptly.

Permissible Deductions

1. Absences for Personal Reasons. If an exempt employee is absent from work for personal reasons, other than sickness or disability, FNU will deduct a full day’s pay from an exempt employee’s weekly salary.
2. Absences for Sickness or Disability. If an exempt employee is absent from work for a full day because of sickness or disability, FNU may deduct a full days’ pay from the employee’s weekly salary (so long as the deduction is made in accordance with the company’s PTO policy, or state disability insurance law, workers’ compensation law, or other company practice of providing compensation for loss of salary occasioned by sickness or disability). The company is not required to pay an employee’s salary for full-day absences for which the employee receives compensation under the above plans, policies or practices.

   Further, deductions for such full day absences may be made for absences due to sickness or disability occurring before the employee has qualified for benefits under the applicable plan or policy and after he or she has exhausted any paid leave (such as PTO) under any plan or policy.

3. Witness Fees or Military Pay. FNU may offset an exempt employee’s salary by the amount of money received by that employee as witness fees, or military pay for any particular work week. Any employee receiving such fees or military pay should report this to the administration.
4. Violation of Safety Rules. FNU may suspend an employee without pay, for any amount of time, without affecting the employee’s exempt status, for a violation of safety rules of major significance to FNU. Such a violation would include a safety or health standard directly applicable to FNU’s business, or the violation of which would or could result in a serious citation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).
5. Serious Workplace Misconduct. FNU may suspend an exempt employee from work without pay for one or more full days for serious workplace misconduct in violation of FNU’s workplace conduct rules, including, but not limited to, violations of FNU’s Non-discrimination and Anti-harassment, Workplace Violence, and Drug and Alcohol policies.
6. Initial and Terminal Weeks of Employment. The University is not required to pay the full salary of an exempt employee in his or her initial or terminal weeks of employment if that employee does not work for the entirety of those weeks. The company will pro-rate the employee’s salary, in these weeks, in proportion to the days worked.
7. Family Medical Leave Act. An employee is not entitled to be paid if he/she is absent from work due to unpaid leave taken pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Complaint Procedure - Deductions. If you believe that your salary is subject to impermissible deductions or that a deduction has been taken improperly, or in error, you must report that concern to your supervisor. Any employee who receives such a complaint or is otherwise aware of improper or mistaken salary deductions, must immediately notify their supervisor. FNU will promptly investigate any such matter brought to its attention to determine whether there has been a violation of this Policy.

It is the obligation of all employees to cooperate in such an investigation. Any improper or mistaken salary deduction will be remedied promptly.

Anti-Retaliation. The University prohibits retaliation, in any form, against any employee who makes a complaint under this policy or participates in FNU’s investigation of such a complaint.

In the event that an investigation establishes that a violation of this policy has occurred, FNU will reimburse the employee for any improper deductions and will take all appropriate corrective action to ensure that such deductions or conduct does not occur again.