Final Paycheck docked for vacation

[pholefono]

Hi, I recently put in my two weeks notice. A couple of days ago I was told that my final paycheck would be docked by six days worth due to the fact that I had not earned enough vacation time to take the two weeks off back in February. They say I had only earned 4.17 days of vacation. At no time was this policy implicitly or explicitly made aware to me and this is an employment-at-will situation. Do I have a legal leg to stand on to get my money?

 

[presutin]

I am sure there was something on the employee handbook you were given when you accepted the employment regarding vacation time. If you feel that you had enough vacation hours and it was an HR error, you can always ask HR to show you the accrual of your vacation time. That should clarify any misunderstanding regarding the hours earned. Good Luck!

 

[pholefono]

read policy book

I read the policy book because a full version is online, and the word vacation does not appear once in the literature. I was never given one upon my promotion from hourly to management. Also, I am salaried.

 

[cbg]

What state are you in? Laws regarding vacation accrual and the payment thereof are state specific.

 

[pholefono]

I'm in Tennessee.

 

[cbg]

I don't know TN law specifically, but what your employer is doing would be legal in my state which overall is more employee-friendly than yours. Being salaried does not mean that you are entitled to take more vacation time than you have earned.

 

[pholefono]

I appreciate the help. I just mentioned the fact that I was salaried for the argument that had I been "sick" for ten days instead of calling it vacation, I still would get paid in our company. Also, back to the main argument, I was never told about this bait-and-switch policy of going ahead and letting you have two weeks under the assumption you would work the whole year (which smacks of contract employment: which it is not).

 

[cbg]

While I do not myself agree with the practice, many, many employers allow employees to take more vacation than they have actually earned, and only one state, to my knowledge, prohibits an employer from recouping it. I don't see why any employee should expect to be allowed to keep time they may have taken but not earned; we certainly see enough employee's claiming that they should be allowed to keep vacation they've earned but not taken. You can't have it both ways. It's hardly a bait-and-switch.

 

[pholefono]

When you're not informed of the policy, it's not in the handbook, and no one in HR can give you an electronic or hardcopy version of the policy, it is the epitome of a bait-and-switch. (BTW we're talking about 100,000+ employer UPS there's no excuse why HR reps. with 15+ years of service cannot give me a straight answer)

 

[presutin]

I find hard to believe that no one, and I mean no one, in a company such as UPS cannot give you a straight answer regarding the status of your vacation time and why you are being deducted the money you are being deducted from your paycheck. I would try headquarters to get that answer if you feel that the professionals in TN are not as well informed and capable of giving you the answer you are looking for. Good Luck!