On November 23, 2009, the Chief Counsel of the California Department of Industrial Relations' Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) issued an opinion letter stating that employers may deduct vacation and sick leave for exempt employees’ partial-day absences of less than four hours as long as consistent with the employer's express policies. In addition, the DLSE opined an employer may deduct a combination of vacation leave and sick leave for a partial-day absence.