DEAR CARRIE: The nursery school where I work closed for two days because of the snowstorm in early January. I did not get paid for those days. I am wondering what my rights are as an hourly employee.
_ Storm Pay Due?
DEAR STORM: Alas, your employer has to pay hourly workers only for the hours they work.
Some companies allow workers shut out of work because of inclement weather to use paid time off in order to get paid for such days. It's generally up to the company to decide.
But, the bottom line for hourly employees is that no work can legally mean no pay.
DEAR CARRIE: I'm wondering if you might be able to comment on whether an employer, in an effort to discourage too many employees from taking off the day before or the day after a company holiday, can legally "double count" such days off. For example, when the business closes for a holiday on a Friday or a Monday, if an employee takes one earned vacation day either the day before or the day after said holiday, the employer counts it as two vacation days. Is this permissible, and if not, what information could I provide to my bosses to advise them accordingly?
_ High-Stakes Vacation
DEAR HIGH-STAKES: In all the years that I have been writing this column, I had never heard of this approach to punish employees who take certain days off.
Is it legal? Most likely.
Bear in mind that companies aren't obligated to offer paid time off, unless a union contract or employment agreement requires it. So when companies provide benefits they generally can set the terms for them.
But a company has to let employees know its paid-time-off policy ahead of time. Otherwise, the two-day charge policy might be construed as a way to cheat employees out of accrued paid time off.
