Which of the following is CORRECT about PNC A．It closed hundreds of bank branches after the storm. B．It offered only five paid days to its salaried employees. C．Most of its hourly workers in New York were fired. D．Salaried employees could work remotely before reopening.
About 23,000 workers had some unplanned time off when Starbucks Corp. closed nearly 1,000 stores along the East Coast when Sandy hit, said Adrienne Gemperle, a company vice president. The coffee chain paid all affected workers for their scheduled hours during the store closures, Ms. Gemperle said.
By now, about 95% of Starbucks stores have reopened. With the remaining locations, the company will compensate affected workers for up to 30 days, a spokeswoman said. Christine Edwards, a manager at a midtown Manhattan Starbucks, said that though her store was closed for three days last week, she and her 13 co-workers—both hourly and salaried employees—were paid in full. When she told staffers they would be paid for that time, "They were overjoyed," said Ms. Edwards, who lives in the hard-lilt Rockaways neighborhood of Queens.
If a workplace closes due to a storm or other natural disaster, federal law says salaried workers must still be paid, although the days off may be counted against vacation days. If a business remains open but a salaried employee isn’t able to work, even from home, managers may deduct pay for days off or count them as vacation or personal time.
Some compensation experts say that no matter the law, companies should pay staffers to maintain morale and loyalty. Workers, especially those struggling to secure basic needs, will be grateful for continued support, said Melissa Quade, a manager of professional services at PayScale, a research firm specializing in compensation.