Was it legal if I was recently laid off and my employer withheld my negative vacation PTO time from my last paycheck?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Was it legal if I was recently laid off and my employer withheld my negative vacation PTO time from my last paycheck?
It was approximately 15 hours. I was salary. There was no written company policy re: deduction of negative PTO from last check (or any method of repayment), and no signature from me allowing this.
Asked on February 15, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Rhode Island
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Unlike most end-of-termination deductions, this one is most likely legal, because it isn't really a deduction: if you had negative PTO, you took PTO despite not earning it yet. That means that you were already paid those 15 hours, by being able to take paid time off (being paid for not working) you had not accrued and were not yet entitled to. In essence, those 15 hours were paid early to you, so there is no actual deduction. If you received those 15 hours on your check, you would have been been overpaid by being in essence paid twice for the same 15 hours.
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.