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LEGAL EASE

Disastrous
Labor Laws

By George F. “Rick” Evans Jr.

Contrary to what the headline suggests, this article is not about non-exempt and salaried employees are exempt, but it’s not a bad
absurd laws that wreak havoc in the workplace. It is, however, a beginning benchmark. If there’s any doubt about where you or
general overview about employment law when some type of dis- your employees fall, go to http://www.flsa.com/coverage.html and
aster occurs making it difficult, if not impossible, for employees you can find out for yourself.
to work. The calamity may be on a micro level as when an em-
ployee’s house burns down. Or it may be on a macro level as when EXEMPT EMPLOYEES
the entire city is brought to a standstill due to a freak snowstorm. Let’s start with exempt employees. If you’re a doctor, and you’re
Or when employees are told to go home early because of concerns
the rains will create flood problems at low water crossings. employed by somebody, odds are you’re exempt. Or if you have
a high salaried employee working for you, odds are he/she is ex-
Preliminarily, note that this article does not apply to medical empt. Anyway, here are the general guidelines.
disasters as when an employee or a spouse or close relative of the
employee is sick or needs care. That was covered in an earlier ar- If the office or workplace is shut down, then the employee’s
ticle discussing the Family Medical Leave Act. This article is about salary can’t be cut or reduced. The employee still gets paid. The
different disasters and what you need to know if you’re an em- employer may, however, ask the employee to take his/her vacation
ployer or an employee. Here’s the bird’s-eye view. or paid time-off days for each day the office is shut down. This
scenario obviously applies for any disaster that shuts the business
First, you have to identify if the employee is exempt or non-ex- down that day. It could be that freak snow storm. Or maybe the
empt. It’s an oversimplification to say hourly wage employees are

32 San Antonio Medicine • September 2015