Can a company do this?

[KyleW]

I live in the state of California and we were just told that they are going to shutdown our facility for a week for maintenance and they told us that we have to either take vacation that we earn or go unpaid for the week. Is that legal that they can make us take our vacation that we earn or make us go unpaid, doesnt this count as some sort of company convenience?

 

[Patricia_Young]

"Company convenience" means nothing legally.

If you are exempt and the shutdown coincides with the company-defined workweek, it can legally be unpaid. If you are nonexempt there is no "if", it can legally be unpaid. For both exempt and nonexempt, the employer can force you to use any paid time off you have accrued.