Is it legal if my company was taken over and my accrued PTO has been reduced?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Is it legal if my company was taken over and my accrued PTO has been reduced?
After working 40 years with a non-profit company and accruing 6 weeks paid time off my company partnered with a for profit company that said that while I will keep my seniority I will only acrue 2.5 weeks time off now.
Asked on January 17, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Michigan
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Unfortunately, this is legal permissable under the law. That is true unless you have a union agreement or employment contract that guarantees how much PTO could be accrued.
Absent any of the above, an employer is free to change its PTO policy to reduce the amount of such time that can be accrued by its employees. Accordingly, the new owner of your company can set this policy as it likes regardless of what previous policy allowed.
Note: If your treatment constitutes some form of actionable discrimination, then you would have a legal claim.
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
It is perfectly legal, unfortunately, unless you had a written employment contract guarantying how much PTO you could accrue. When there is no written contract, a company is free to change its PTO (vacation, sick, and personal days) policy, and may reduce the amount accrued by employees at will. The fact that you have a substantial amount of seniority or that the company previously gave you 6 weeks is irrelevant--going forward, an employer may set any policy it likes.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.