I am exempt - lots of days on vacation I should have been taking back at the end of the year

“In the context of exempt employment, if an employee shows up for work for even just 15 minutes, they must be paid for the entire day, whereas an 8-hour workday would still require payment for the full day, but the key point is that the exempt employee is paid a salary regardless of the exact hours worked within that day, meaning a 15-minute shift would still result in a full day's pay.”