News Notes: Mandatory Employee Furloughs Require Caution

With the economic slowdown, if you’re tempted to ask employees to take time off to cut costs and avoid layoffs, you probably won’t have legal problems with nonexempt, nonunion employees, but use caution when it comes to exempt workers. Under the wage and hour laws, you can’t dock the pay of exempt employees, because they are usually entitled to a full week’s salary if they perform any duties during the workweek. Several California employers have asked employees to take Fridays off, including Applied Materials Inc. and Charles Schwab. However, after announcing the Fridays-off policy, Schwab backed off and said employees would not be required to take the unpaid leave.