OK, in a previous thread about my craptacular job, I came to the decision (against the advice fo a few) to quit my job before actually getting another job or hearing back from graduate school. Whether that was a big mistake or not we’ll just have to wait and see. But the point of this thread is to ask how I can ask my curernt, but soon to be no longer, employer if I can use my vacation and sick days after my final “real” day (this Friday.) Obviously, the reason is because I would still be getting paid for them, and between the two, I have almost two weeks worth saved up at least, and that’s half a month’s salary, which, since I would have no job for a while, would come in handy.
So how do I go about asking for this? From what I understand, it’s not that uncommon a thing to do, but I don’t want to sound greedy.
I don’t think it will matter much if you ask for it or not. It is unlikely that your employer will pay you anything they don’t owe you. If you have already accrued the vacation time, I believe they owe it to you. This will depend on your company’s policy, which, if it is not a very small employer, is almost certainly spelled out in the “Employee’s Handbook” or some such. I doubt if they will pay you for unused sick days. Usually those aren’t accrued, they are merely “allowed”.
Vacation days are a no-brainer. You are entitled to those and you can just ask HR to verify how many days you have unused. I don’t think there would be any problem in getting paid for those.
Sick days, on the other hand, are a different story. It’s unlikely you will be able to claim for those, but it all depends on the company’s policy. I wouldn’t count on them.
It’s very unlikely that they’ll pay you for sick days when you weren’t sick and missing work, but you’re legally entitled to your vacation time as long as you’re employed there. The trick, of course, is to make sure that your “I’m leaving as of…” date comes AFTER the vacation is used up.
I recently left a company and was paid for the accrued PTO that I hadn’t yet taken, but was not allowed to “schedule” it. Basically, I left the friday before Presidents Day, but they wouldn’t let me take Tuesday as a PTO to get paid for the holiday. I was told that you had to actually be present on your final day there, but they would pay me for the PTO I hadn’t yet taken.
OK, so I’m meeting with my boss tomorrow morning to do an exit interview and do the paperwork, so I guess I’ll just bring it up then in a casual way. Something along the lines of,
“So, what about my unused vacation time?”
Too bad I can only use that and not my sick time, that brings my total to about a week instead of over two. Oh well, still better than not getting paid for them at all, right?
When I left my last job, at the county social services agency, I gave them a month’s notice. I had cleared my caseload and wrapped up loose projects within a couple of weeks, and my manager was kind enough to let me load up on doctor’s appointments for myself, my wife, and my cats for the last couple of weeks.
I still had more than three weeks of sick time in the bank when I left, though I got paid for my vacation days.
This won’t be an issue. They’ll probably already have the amount calculated and ready to give to you. Since you’ve already earned it, they’re required to pay you for it. At least that is the case in the states I’ve worked.
i had a spat with an ex employer about vacation time…i was to get two weeks every year…except, because it was called “pooled vacation time”, i wasn’t allowed to get it when i left. i called and threatened legal action of some variety to get what i was owed, but that’s apparently their way around it: semantics.
About the sick days: Just take a week of “sick” days and come back to work on one last day. You can do the same with the vacation days. That way, you get paid free time and you can put off your exit interview for another day! Of course, you would really be screwing over your job if you did this, but if you really hate it, then I would definitely do it.
My workplace pays us half time for unused sick days, I guess as an incentive not to use them. Does your work do something like that?
Just to reiterate what other posters said, you won’t be “using” your vacation time after Friday; you will get paid for any accrued time as part of your last check. (Assuming that is their policy, which is standard for most employers). Does your regular paycheck show your vacation balance and do you agree with it? Just confirm that before going into the interview so you can address any discrepancy between what you think is owed and what they think.
If you’re salaried you may need to prorate your annual allowance to the proportion of the year that you have worked, and subtract out any vacation days you have taken. Again, if you’re hourly they have probably informed you of your vacation balance throughout the year?