So, I work at a bank in Georgia. My boss is very anal about our work hours so we have to have at least 38.75 hours each week and if we have less, she will deduct vacation hours to compensate.
For example, last week my car needed repairs so I didn't have a ride to work. I am severely underpaid and rent is high (over 50% of my income) and I live alone in a one bedroom, so I only had the money for the repairs and not a single penny left to take rideshares. My boss gave me a ride on the first day, but it made me over an hour late bc she had dr appointments for her kids. My sister and aunt gave me rides on the other 2 days, but both are ridiculous when it comes to being on time for anything, so of course they had me at work late. I had some days where I had to stay behind a little late, so, by the end of the week I was short a little over one hour.
As a result, my boss made me put in 2 hours of my vacation time to supplement my pay since these vacation hours can't be taken in increments less than one hour.
I don't like this practice. I would rather not be paid for those hours than to have them eat away at my vacation time, but I thought it was bank policy (although not in any documents I signed upon hire).
But I find out earlier this week that it is just what she does and no other branches of the bank exercise this practice. I would understand why she does this, if we request that we use vacation time to supplement these hours. But she does it automatically. Yet, if we run out of sick time and ask to use vacation time for a DR appointment or getting sick, she won't let us. It's odd. No employer I've worked for has ever done this before.
Is this practice normal? Better yet, is it legal?