Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Plant closure and exempt employees

Our company is forcing all employees including exempt to take a week off without pay or forcing us to use vacation time. The justification they are using to say this is leagl is a quote from the CA Chamber of Commerce Labor Law Digest which says, in part, ''As a general rule, an exempt employee need not be paid for any work week in which he/she performs no work.'' They seem to think ths means if they close the plant for an entire week, they are exempt from CA labor law. The CA DLSE, in part, states: ''Salaried exempt employees may not be forced to utilize vacation time (or any other accrued time) as an offset to the salary obligation. If such a program is instituted, the employer will lose the exempt status of the

position and overtime will be required in the future.'' This seems to say that I am now non-exempt. Please advise.


Asked on 5/09/01, 1:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Keith E. Cooper Keith E. Cooper, Esq.

Re: Plant closure and exempt employees

You should get in touch with someone at your local office of the California Labor Commission. They can advise you whether you have a claim and may be able to follow up on your behalf. You may also be able to find more information at the State of California home page.

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Answered on 5/10/01, 5:16 pm


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