Legal Question in Employment Law in California

You don't work, you don't get paid. The employer is entitled to set and change hours, duties, titles, compensation, benefits, leaves, vacations, holidays, policies, rules, etc. just not retroactively. With the economy tanking, many employers will begin or continue cutting hours and salaries. The employee's goal should be to keep the employer happy and make the company money. That�s how they pay employee wages.

Yes it is. Although not expressly stated, I take it that you had hoped that as a salaried employee it would be a violation of wage and hour laws to furlough you, because your salary is stated on a monthly or other long-range period. The law, however, is that regardless of how stated, unless there is an express contract that says differently, your salary is earned on a day-rate basis. So, just as if you were out of vacation time you could take an unpaid day off with your employer's consent, your employer can furlough you on a day-rate basis. What they cannot do is calculate any pay or non-working/non-paid time on less than a full day if you are an exempt salaried employee. So they cannot send you home early and pay you half a day, without exposing themselves to overtime and other non-exempt wage and hour rules for you.