HR Hotline: May We Suspend an Employee Without Pay for Misconduct? 

Q: One of our employees got into a heated argument with a co-worker this week, shouting at them and using very offensive language. We sent them home for the rest of the day and asked them to remain at home for the remainder of the week so we could complete an investigation.

Must we pay them during the suspension? We don’t want to reward them for misconduct by giving what amounts to free paid time off. 

A: Your duty to pay the employee during their suspension depends on whether the employee is exempt or non-exempt.

If they are non-exempt—for example, because they are paid by the hour—then you are only required to pay for time actually worked.

You may keep them on an unpaid suspension while you finish your investigation. 

On the other hand, if the employee is exempt, you must continue to pay their salary for any week in which they perform any work.

Discipline

There is an exception to this rule for violations of significant safety standards, but a verbal argument like the one you describe likely amounts to ordinary workplace misconduct, and not a safety issue.

In such a situation, you may not discipline the employee by reducing their salary for an absence of less than one week.  

While federal law allows for unpaid disciplinary suspensions of one or more full days for workplace conduct rule infractions, Connecticut law does not.  

Note that both state law and federal law allow an employer to pay a proportionate part of an exempt employee’s salary for time actually worked, during the beginning and ending weeks of employment.

Thus, if you ultimately decide to terminate your employee during the first week of his suspension, you may reduce his final paycheck to reflect compensation only for the days he worked that week. 

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HR problems or issues? Email or call CBIA’s Diane Mokriski at the HR Hotline (860.244.1900) | @HRHotline. The HR Hotline is a free service for CBIA member companies and is intended to provide general information and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult with legal professionals for specific guidance for your specific situation.