A math problem

My problem is more of a math problem, I think. I have an employee on salary that has exceeded the number of vacation days he is allowed. How do I deduct his pay for this unpaid vacation time? I just can't grasp how to figure this out. He is paid bi-weekly, gets 2 weeks (80 hours/10 days, at least that is how it would be for an hourly employee) paid vacation, is required to work 6 days a week (10-12 hours per day).

It's a good thing I took calculus in high school, because it's been extremely helpful in payroll problems. (Thanks Mr. Ward!) I would also like to note (purely for my own self esteem boost) that I was the first female to ever pass the AP calculus exam at my high school.

Okay, this is simple division. Multiple ways to go about it. One, you could be a real stick in the mud and say that you will deduct 8 hours for each day he was gone--which would be rather traditional. Since he required to work 6 days a week, though, I'd take one week's pay, divide by six and have that be one day's pay.

Except I wouldn't do any of this. You have an exempt employee, who regularly puts in 60 to 72 hours a week. Presumably, this is not an easy job, as it wouldn't require so many freaking hours. Exempt employees should get paid for the job, not by the hour. (Some people will argue that you can't deduct at all, I argue that you can in whole day increments, but I'm not a lawyer and even if I were, this isn't the hill I want to die on.)

The hill I want to die on is that you should cut the guy some slack and grant him the two extra days. If he's a good employee this is especially important. If he's a bad employee, start dealing with his issues in another way. He's doing a ton of work. Give him the two days.

Somebody will start shrieking about workplace fairness. Well, to be fair, I think all exempt employees who work their tail ends off deserve some extra time off. Hourly employees are different--not because they are less valuable--but because the laws governing them are different. They are compensated with overtime pay for crazy hours.

You want to keep your good employees happy. You want to either change your bad employees to good employees, or work them out of the organization. This may help with the latter, but not at all with the former.