Human Resource Blog

Maine Tardiness

Can a college legally deduct 15 minutes vacation time if employee is 5 minutes late and have them start work immediately? Also if workers are unionized and there is no written policy on the matter, can they do it legally?

The policy described is not illegal under state or federal law. While the state of Maine requires that employees be paid any vacation time due upon termination, the state doesn’t mandate how much vacation time — if any – the employer must grant. If an employer wants to reduce vacation time as a disciplinary measure, that’s perfectly legal.

 As long as the employee is being paid for all the time actually worked, this policy is legal. Employees are not being shortchanged for any time worked — they are simply losing vacation time that they might have been entitled to, if they had been more prompt.

As far as “Is this legal under the union contract?”, that question would have to be answered by a union representative or a labor lawyer who is familiar with the specific contract involved.

For a more complete discussion of this issue, see this answer: http://www.humanresourceblog.com/2007/12/22/tardiness-policy/