The Mailbag.

• Author: Delogu, Nancy

Should employee records be stored only with HR?

Q Our Archives & Records Management team says they should be responsible for receiving and maintaining all employment records. (Those employees are not HIPAA trained.) It's my understanding that the HR department should be the office of record. That is what the company policy states. Where should records be stored?--M., Virginia

1. Federal and state laws say what type of records employers must keep, but those laws are silent as to who is responsible for maintaining them. In certain cases, as with medical records, employers must keep the records confidential and apart from personnel records in a secure location.

   Your difficulty seems to be that the team designated to care for the records isn't trained on medical confidentiality rules. That could be a problem with the ADA and HIPAA. All this argues strongly for having a single clearinghouse for employee records.

   What if worker is paid for vacation he never took?

   Q An employee requested accrued vacation leave and was paid for the weeks in advance of the vacation. Then he changed his mind and came to work for the entire duration of his paid vacation. How do we handle his paycheck? Can we deduct the vacation pay from his workweek pay (making sure he doesn't go below minimum wage)? If not, how can we get reimbursed for the vacation pay?--Ken, New York

1. Your question suggests at least two facts that are unusual:

   * First, the employee was paid in advance.

   * Second, it sounds like the rate of vacation pay may not have been equivalent to the wages normally due for normal working hours.

   Typically, if an employee works during a paid vacation, the employee is simply paid for the hours worked and the vacation time (not wages) credited back to the vacation "bank." I wonder why that is not possible in this case.

   What I am suggesting is that if he has already been paid for hours worked at his base rate, can he not simply be paid for any extra hours and overtime, and the vacation time credited back to him? You could also just treat him as having cashed out his accrued vacation, and pay his wages as usual.

   Must we pay worker for her 30-day notice time?

   Q An employee's contract states that if either party decides to terminate it, a 30-day notice must be given. The employee turned in her 30-day notice, but our manager told the employee to leave immediately. Does that require us to pay the employee for the duration of the 30-day notice time?--Lauren, North Carolina

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