I really love being salaried and expected to work 60+ hours per week for the same pay, but if I have nothing to do and work less than 40 in a week I have to use PTO.
I never really do anymore than 40 hrs, but the thought that this is legal boggles my mind. I will say that is the ONE advantage to IT contracting: you can only accept contracts where you get paid by the hour. At my last gig I got paid straight time for anytime over 40 hrs per week. My pay rate was $60 per hour (125K a year for normal hours). Most professional jobs that are FTE are going to be salaried. Luckily I don't get a crap and only work 40 hrs.
I know, right? My company made the "switch" over to PTO a few years ago, and gushed about how great and "flexible" it is.
I mean, I wasn't fooled, nor were my coworkers. It's only "great" for the company. So now I get to use PTO for a dentist's appointment? And sick kids, great. Prior to PTO, we had "unlimited" sick time (within reason).
So, work 88 hours one pay period and 78 hours the next and take 2 hours PTO? No.
I first learned to track my hours and roll them over to the next week if necessary.
Then I learned to start vacations mid-pay-period. So instead of taking 40 hours for a "full week", I generally have a few hours extra on either end, which can save PTO.
THEN I learned to just stop tracking hours at all. I'm still early in this phase, hopefully it makes me feel better. For someone who has tracked to the 0.25 hours since 2000, it's a hard transition to just write 10x8 and call it a day.