My probably autistic coworker asked the HR lady to explain what the benefit of being a salary worker was to my department. Surprisingly she agreed and answered the best should could. I was embarrassed for he as she tried to tiptoe around the fact that if benefits the company and never the employee. After the HR lady started sweating because of our question about how this could possibly be beneficial to us my coworker stated the obvious, “there is no benefit to being salary for the employee.” The conversation just abruptly ended there.
Legally we are required to be paid for the day if we work at all in the day according to our HR lady, but if we get sick or have to leave half way through the day they use our PTO or make us take unpaid time off if we don't have PTO.
I worked a couple hours last month and got ill. They wouldn't let me leave until I put in for unpaid time off because I didn't have any PTO left. So I got paid for the 2 hours a was there. I'm a salary worker not an hourly worker. I'm only salary when it benefits them, but I'm hourly when I'm sick? Unless I misunderstood what the HR lady was saying. My paycheck was short the equivalent of 6 hours of pay.