Is there a labor law for this situation?

Question

I'll try to state this as clearly as possible. Recently, I went on vacation. I scheduled this vacation with my employer months ago. The week before I left, I sat down with my manager to make sure I had enough vacation time. My week off was to be four days paid and one day scheduled off. When I returned from vacation and recieved my check, I had not been paid for any of the days. When I asked my manager why, she stated that the company implemented a new rule which stopped me from being paid for my vacation. Apparently the new company rule states that you can only be paid for the time off that you have accrued through the year.

I know a company can do that...my question is how can they not tell anyone until the middle of august. There was no email stating any changes to the handbook, or letter from anyone in HR. This is not the first issue I've had with them all of a sudden implementing a new rule.

Answer 1

Your employer doesn't seem to be too scrupulous.

   When you scheduled your vacation and came to the understanding that four days were to be paid and 1 unpaid, that was the time when your employer needed to mention the new "rule". In a sense the agreement you made with your employer is binding and your employer should honor it's commitment.

  I'm quite sure that had it been made clear to you from the get-go that you weren't going to be paid for any of the time off, you might have opted to not go on vacation.

    In any case, your employer can't chose to apply rules when it suits them without any prior notice. Demand to see in writing when this new "rule" was implemented and if it turns out that there isn't a clear document implementing this "rule", threaten to file a complaint based on discrimination.

    

Answer 2

In the US, isn't illegal but sure is unreasonable for them to something like that without telling anyone.

Answer 3

if you are in the US there are not any federal laws mandating paid time off and there are very few in regard to how it is used or applied. there are only a few states that regulate paid time off other then to insure that the employer fairly follows it's own policy. the answer to your question will vary depending on where you are located.

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