Does my employer need to pay my accrued vacation time?
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Does my employer need to pay my accrued vacation time?
I’ve worked for this company for two
years. My start of employment was
February 14th 2017. My employer provids
a handbook of policies and this handbook
states that on an employees anniversary
date accrued vacation time will start
over and become available. It also
states that if an employee resigns or is
terminated any unused vacation time and
any accrued vacation time will be paid
in one lump sum on the final paycheck. I
gave my two week written,dated, and
signed resignation letter on February
5th 2019 which stated that my last day
will be February 19th 2019. My employer
allowed me to work the full length of my
notice, during which, I worked on my
anniversary date as well as following my
anniversary date. I had 14 hours of
unused vacation that transfers over as
well as my accrued vacation time being
40 hours which equals 54 hours of
vacation time. My employer is refusing
to pay for my vacation time from my
anniversary date. When I explained to my
employer that his handbook states that
any and all accrued and unused vacation
time shall be paid he stated ‘Nice try’
and also stated that my resignation date
was the day I gave him my written notice
which from my understanding is not
correct since I worked my full length of
notice to February 19th. Does he need to
pay my full 54 hours of vacation pay? If
so, what should be my next steps?
Asked on February 22, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Indiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
You resigned when you gave the notice: that was when you indicated that would no longer be working there. At the moment you tell the employer you will cease employment, they no longer have to let you accrue benefits intended only for continuing employees.
Also, bear in mind that judges are human beings and try to do what is fair. No judge that I have ever appeared before would let you claim an entire extra week of pay for working a few days past when you had already resigned, since that is wholly inequitable. At most, a judge *might* give you the pro rata share of your accrual: e.g. if you worked 1 week past your anniversary date, a judge might give you 1/52nd of your annual accrual, or 1/52 x 40 hours = around 0.8 hours.
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