Maybe—but it depends on how your paid time off benefits are structured.
In California, there are two types of paid time off: time that “vests” and is considered to be part of an employee’s wages, and time that does not vest.
Vacation benefits are of the type that vests, and employees cannot forfeit earned vacation time for any reason. Sick leave, if accrued separately from vacation time, does not vest and is not considered part of an employee’s wages. If vacation and sick leave are accrued together under a single PTO plan, then all PTO time vests and is considered a wage.
In 2005, a California appellate court ruled that if an exempt employee takes 4 or more hours of personal time off, the employer can make a partial-day deduction from the employee’s vacation or PTO bank. Personal absences of less than 4 hours, however, cannot be deducted.
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But what if the employee is absent due to illness?
If sick leave benefits are accrued separately from vacation benefits, then the time taken off by an exempt employee due to illness can be deducted in increments as small as one hour. If, on the other hand, an exempt employee simply earns a combined PTO benefit, then only those illness-related absences of 4 hours or more can be deducted from the employee’s PTO bank. In other words, whatever the reason for the absence, absences of less than 4 hours cannot be deducted from an exempt employee’s PTO bank.
For non-exempt employees, in contrast, illness-related absences can be deducted from either a separate sick leave or PTO bank in increments of one hour or more.