Rhea

This appeal presents a challenge to General Atomics’s employment practice of requiring exempt employees to use their annual leave hours when they are absent from work for portions of a day. Although Conley v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (2005) 131 Cal.App.4th 260, 263 [ 31 Cal.Rptr.3d 719 ] (Conley) established that California law does not prohibit an employer “from following the established federal policy permitting employers to deduct from exempt employees’ vacation leave, when available, on account of partial-day absences,” appellant Lori Rhea contends that Conley was wrongly decided, or in the alternative, that even under Conley, General Atomics is not permitted to deduct from an exempt employee’s leave bank when the employee is absent for less than four hours.

We conclude that Rhea’s contentions are without merit, and accordingly we affirm the trial court’s judgment in favor of General Atomics.

I

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. General Atomics’s Annual Leave Policies for Exempt Employees

Rhea is employed at General Atomics in a salaried position that qualifies her as an exempt employee for the purposes of overtime pay under the federal and California wage…