Jan. 23, 2026
Business Closings / Delays / Absences During Inclement Weather
As much of our area plans for inclement weather over the next week, we’d like to refresh where the Department of Labor (DOL), through the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) stands on this topic.
Nonexempt employees: The FLSA requires employers to pay nonexempt employees only for hours that the employees have actually worked. Therefore, an employer is not required to pay nonexempt employees if the employer is unable to provide work to those employees due to inclement weather. You can allow employees to take vacation/ PTO or time off without pay.
Exempt employees: Employers are required to pay the employee's full salary if the worksite is closed or unable to reopen due to inclement weather or other disasters for less than a full workweek. However, an employer may require exempt employees to use allowed leave for this time.
The Department of Labor (DOL) considers an absence caused by transportation difficulties experienced during weather emergencies, if the employer is open for business, as an absence for personal reasons. Under this circumstance, an employer can require the employee to use vacation / PTO time. If vacation / PTO has been exhausted, the law allows for full day deductions from an exempt employee’s salary. However, best practice is not to deduct from an exempt employee. Consult legal counsel before you make this decision. In any case, a deduction from salary for less than a full-day's absence is not permitted. Alternatively, you can require employees to "make up" lost time after they return to work, which is permissible for exempt employees.
-Revised from this article / see the full article here:
FMLA leave calculation when employers close for weather
The DOL issued a very timely opinion letter (Jan 5, 2026) regarding the application of FMLA during a school closure for weather.
Key Points:
- When an employee is scheduled to be on FMLA for a full week, the full week counts as FMLA regardless of school closing.
- When an employee is on intermitted leave, FMLA cannot be counted for the closure day(s) as long as the employee would not have worked even while the school was closed. Example: If an employee has scheduled intermittent FMLA leave to attend a medical appointment on a Tuesday afternoon, but the school is closed all day Tuesday due to weather and the employee wasn’t expected to work that day, that closure day should not reduce the employee’s available FMLA leave.
This treatment is consistent with FMLA is applied for holiday closures: Days the employer is closed that fall during a partial week of FMLA leave generally aren’t deducted against an employee’s leave entitlement unless the employee was expected to work that day.
The full opinion letter can be found here.
Opinion letters are based on specific circumstances, and by their nature they interpret the statute as applied to those facts. While this situation involved a school, it addresses the rule around how to count FMLA leave during partial closures (i.e., counting only the time the employee was expected to work). Therefore, as a general FMLA principle, it is applicable to all covered employers, not only schools.
Link to HR Answers Now:
Source: Wendy Ratcliff, Director of HR Services for WCI
Tags: Employers' Blog Posts