Dear AJ: What if I have to tell employees
to stay home, be "self-quarantined," or shut our office
for a couple of weeks? What am I required to pay people?
AJ's Answer: Required (by law) payment
of employees on quarantine is dependent on whether the employee
works or not and if they are exempt/salary or not.
By law – If the person is working at home, then they would
be paid for all work from home. Location is not the issue; work on
behalf of the employer is the issue, and, we, of course, pay for
all work performed. Whether that pay is for a couple or a few hours
of a day or the entire day, would depend on the employee’s
status as exempt or not exempt. Non-exempt workers (typically
hourly workers) are paid only for hours worked only (hours not
worked are not paid). Exempt employees (typically salaried workers)
are paid for an entire day, even if they work for only a small part
of a day, and, generally speaking, we have to pay exempt personnel
for an entire week even
