So I got a better job. Long story and nobody wants to hear it, but point is I put in my notice at my current job. Gave them more than two weeks, all the way until August 15th.
I have legitimately no reason to give notice, other than being a nice guy. The new job pays more, has less hassle, and better perks. I could care less about burning this bridge since I really don’t think there will ever be anything here for me to benefit from in the future. And the boss is a dick. And they just laid a guy off. With no notice to HIM mind you. Nor legitimate reason other than not really liking the guy.
So I asked what’s gonna happen to my vacation pay when I leave. Supervisor says “It’ll probably just disappear but I’ll check with the owner.”
So wtf. I didn’t use my vacation pay for this year. This is a small company - there’s no handbook or company policy on anything. Only 10 people. A condition of my being hired was that I get a week’s paid vacation in my first year rather than waiting a year. Turns out the job aint what they sold me, so I’m not hanging around. I’ve been here 6 months +. It’s right around the time when I would have taken my vacation, if not for the new job.
In my (admittedly useless) opinion, I should be paid the vacation that I didn’t use, since it was a condition of my being hired. I just don’t know what the laws are. And trust me, I’ve been googling. I get lots and lots of other people asking the same question, and everybody answering with “Check your state laws”. Well…where could I find this one particular law? And how would it even apply to my position, being as there’s no real company policy?
I’ve been burned before leaving a job of my own accord; seems high and mighty owners don’t like people leaving voluntarily when their scams are found out. I don’t like being taken for a ride, ya know? I wish employers would just be up front and honest, but that’s a whole 'nother thread.
Normally, it is subject to Company policy. Since you gave them two weeks notice, tell them that you will be taking that last week as your vacation that you earned. Since you have earned it, they should not be able to take it away.
Pennsylvanian employment law is absolutely barbaric. I clicked on this thread because I couldn’t imagine there every be a question about getting your vacation pay. But:
Have you guys considered another revolution? Why did you Yanks hold the first one if you’re so insistent on replicating the working conditions of ye olde Britain?
According to the above, coupled with the fact that you have no written policy, if they refuse to pay you it will probably take a lawyer to extract the money after investigating what the de facto policy is, even if there is not one written down. IANAL and you might need one. However, the expense and hassle might not be worth the after-tax money that is left after the lawyer takes his 33%.
But let’s see what the supervisor says when he gets back to you.
And don’t expect to get paid for that last week, either. Since your soon to be ex-employer has no written policies, watch them claim you abandoned your job a week before you said you were leaving.
If they have a vacation policy (clearly they offer vacation, they just don’t have a policy about what happens to your vacation when you quit), then the OP is entitled to take his vacation. If they fire him and don’t pay him for his vacation taken, then he can collect unemployment. That causes their unemployment insurance to go up…they’re better off just to pay him the vacation. This is why companies end up with policies to just pay employees for their unused vacation when they leave.
No, he isn’t. At virtually every company, whether they have a policy or not, the employee’s vacation must be scheduled with approval of management. An employee cannot call his boss Monday morning and say, “Aloha! Guess where I am for the next week!” If the OP says “I’m giving you two weeks’ notice but the second week is vacation,” management can claim job abandonment because the vacation was not approved.
The OP has made every effort to leave in a professional manner, and if he has been on good terms with this company, then there’s really nothing else he can do except hope that the owner is not a complete asshole.
Then why doesn’t he just say “I’m out of here in three weeks. Oh, and that last one’s vacation” and then double-dip with the new job? It’s “terminal leave”, if you will. It’s awesome that you can do this with your Army career because they also pay your housing/separation/clothing allowances during that time when every person knows you’re discharged but the law and the computers think you’re still in the service.
Because they still don’t have to pay him the week of vacation. he could say I’m taking vaca this week, then working two weeks after that… but I suspect the response would be to be be told not to bother coming back.
Interesting thing is that most of the people are giving advice to the OP as to “nothing you can do, your employer will screw you…yada yada yada.”
Given that the employer can screw him, doesn’t mean that they will. And the OP should try and attempt to use his vacation since it was offered to him. You don’t get what you don’t ask for.
Given that people read these type threads for both the specific case and for the more generic info provided, I’ll offer this:
If the companies business is with the Federal Government (lots of contracts are set aside for small businesses), there are some more restrictions that could come into play. The rate charged the government is based on some overhead rate to pay vacation time and not paying vacation time earned could create a fraud situation. Please note there are so many different situations that this advice should be considered nothing more than one more avenue to look into…
