If an employee is 20 minutes late for work, what may the employer do under the rules described?

If an employee is 20 minutes late for work, what may the employer do under the rules described?

• A. Deduct a half hour's wage
• B. Deduct two hours' wage
• C. Fire the employee
• D. Require compensatory time off

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that wages can be reduced to reflect time not worked, but only if a pre‑established, compliant time-dation policy is applied. In this scenario, the rules describe rounding lateness to the nearest half-hour. With a tardiness of 20 minutes, rounding would yield a 30-minute deduction from pay. That’s why deducting a half hour’s wage is the appropriate action under the described policy: it ties the deduction to actual time not worked and follows the rounding rule the employer has set, while still respecting overall pay requirements (such as not dropping wages below minimum for the period). Firing the employee is a disciplinary measure rather than a wage deduction for the lateness, and compensatory time off isn’t typically used in private California employment to handle lateness. Deducing two hours would exceed the described rounding rule for a 20-minute lateness, so it wouldn’t fit the described policy either.

The key idea is that wages can be reduced to reflect time not worked, but only if a pre‑established, compliant time-dation policy is applied. In this scenario, the rules describe rounding lateness to the nearest half-hour. With a tardiness of 20 minutes, rounding would yield a 30-minute deduction from pay. That’s why deducting a half hour’s wage is the appropriate action under the described policy: it ties the deduction to actual time not worked and follows the rounding rule the employer has set, while still respecting overall pay requirements (such as not dropping wages below minimum for the period).

Firing the employee is a disciplinary measure rather than a wage deduction for the lateness, and compensatory time off isn’t typically used in private California employment to handle lateness. Deducing two hours would exceed the described rounding rule for a 20-minute lateness, so it wouldn’t fit the described policy either.