CT: Employee PTO Bank Deductions

With four Nor’easters hitting the state this March, Connecticut employers are reminded that the state’s laws regarding deducting paid time off (PTO) from exempt employees’ PTO banks differs from federal law. Under federal law, employers are allowed to deduct PTO from an exempt employee’s PTO bank when an office is closed. In Connecticut, however, employers are not allowed to deduct PTO if they choose to close the office.

JD Supra provides the following scenarios for exempt employees to offer guidance on how the Connecticut law should be followed:

• Employer excuses exempt employee from work: Full salary must be paid. No deduction in salary is permissible. It is also not permissible to use fringe benefit (i.e., PTO) to cover the time.
• Exempt employee requests day off because of the weather: Reduction in salary is permissible. Fringe benefits (PTO) may be used to cover the time off.
• Employer excuses exempt employee sometime during the day because of worsening weather: Full salary must be paid. No use of fringe benefits to make up time is permissible.
• Exempt employee asks to go home because of bad weather after starting work: Time off can be taken from fringe benefits, but employer must pay pro-rata portion of salary for the day to cover time actually worked. If employee has exhausted fringe benefit, the employer must still pay the full salary because the employee worked that day.
• Employer tells employee that the usual place of work will not open for the day, but that work can still be performed either at home or at some location other than the usual place of work: Full salary must be paid.

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