However, if you EARNED the vacation - i.e. you work a year, then you are entitled to take a vacation the next year - then you earned that vacation, it is owed you. Most employers have this policy - you work to earn vacation, otherwise people could quit or die on their employer while owing vacation…
If it is inconvenient for them to give time off then they owe you the equivalent money. As far as B is concerned, it’s as if everyone is laid off permanently after the April deadline. Anything they owe you, they must pay. It all depends on the practice and wording of the old vacation policy.
I would think people would remember if they did not get a vacation the first year.
(or the way our employer did it, after your first Jan.1, you get X% of annual vacation depending on what percent of the first year you worked… Each Jan 1 thereafter, you get a year’s vacation, say 10 days, based on previous year’s work. This indicated that your vacation to be taken in 2012 was earned in 2011 and so is money owed you. )
A inherits the staff and it’s as if they just hired you all that first day. Whatever you are owed before that is between you and the previous employer, the Franchisee B.
you could talk to A head office, if they seem to give a damn about employees; but if B is departing the scene, even A may not have much leverage to make him be less of a dick.
The way accrual works is that you could’ve (if your boss allowed it) taken the 15 days starting on the 14th, but you haven’t really earned the vacation yet. If you should quit before the year is finished you may be required to pay back the unearned part of the vacation that you’ve taken. However, this will depend on your state. That’s why you need to consult a lawyer with knowledge of the the employment laws of your state.
I think my first step would be just to call HR and ask them to explain why they don’t have to give you the vacation you would have earned (or been granted) on your anniversary. Their answer might not satisfy you but it will give you a place to start.
I know that at my employer, you are granted a block of vacation on your anniversary and if your employment ends a week later you don’t get paid for what you didn’t use. And we have a big department of employment lawyers so I’m sure it’s legal (in most states - in some places we do have to pay it out).
The first question is when you earn those 15 days- were they earned from 2/2011-2/2012, (in which case your probably have to be paid for all of them) or are they the 15 days you would earn from 2/2012-2/2013? ( in which case they may have to pay you for only a few hours)
The second question is who you have actually been working for since 2/15. Yes, I know Party B is still running the restaurant, and Party A is selling the building to corporate in April. But Party B may have already sold/transferred the franchise back to corporate, and is now running the place as employees of the corporate enterprise. There’s no reason why the sale of the franchise and the sale of the building must occur at the same time and it would be very unusual for Party B to sell/transfer the franchise to Party A for two months until Party A sells both the franchise and the building to corporate and the costs and hassles ( lawyers,licenses/permits, setting up new accounts with vendors, etc) wouldn’t be worth it.