By law I am an exempt salary employee and I am trying to understand how it works. If I have used all my paid time off/sick leave and I need to take a day off because I am sick, can my employer deduct the pay for that day from my paycheck? Also if I need to leave a few hours early can my employer deduct the pay for those hours from my paycheck?

Rita Risser responds:

There are two laws, federal and state. In this case, they are the same, but people who are not in California may wish to check their own state laws.

Under federal law, there are only 2 times your employer can deduct from an exempt employee's wages: --if you are absent for a day or more for personal reasons, other than sickness or accident, or --if you are penalized for major safety violations

If you are absent for a day or more due to sickness or disability, the employer is allowed to charge against a sick leave policy or a disability leave policy, but in these situations you would still be paid.

If you are gone for less than a day for personal reasons (other than sickness or accident) the employer can not deduct your wages.