Have heard they aren’t paying out accrued paid time off. Is this legal?
7 replies (most recent on top)
State dependent. Many years ago I was let go by a shabbily ran home health company headquartered in Kentucky. I had two weeks of PTO accrued and lived and worked in a state that mandates PTO be paid out upon departure, regardless of the reason for departure. Corporate was not going to pay my PTO, so I called department of labor in my state and was informed they had to pay out PTO. I told that to corporate that by state labor board they had to pay my PTO and guess what? I got a check for my PTO.
From Sparq…..
Applies To
In general, this policy applies to regular employees working in the U.S., except in California, who have standard hours of 20 or more per week. This includes:
Full-time
Part-time (some exceptions may apply)
Exempt
Non- exempt
This policy does not apply to:
Employees working in California (who have a separate Paid Time Off policy)
MedExpress employees with standard hours less than 30 per week (unless required by law)
Employees with standard hours less than 20 per week (unless required by law)
Contractors
Temporary employees (unless required by law)
You are covered under this policy immediately upon employment.
OptumServe
If you are part of the LHI business, review additional information about PTO grants and carryover
E on the LHI DMS site.
Leaving The Company
PTO is a grant and not earned compensation. Unused PTO is not converted to cash payments upon termination of employment except where required by state law. The only exception to this policy is for employees who are laid off due to job elimination. In this situation, employees will receive payment for unused PTO up to one week of their standard hours, up to a maximum of 40 hours, according to the UnitedHealth Group Severance Pay Plan.
If you use your Purchased PTO and terminate employment before you have paid for it, the company reserves the right to recover the difference from your final paycheck.
If you elected PTO Purchase and haven't used the amount, you will be reimbursed for the outstanding amount it your termination date occurs by the end of the calendar year. You should receive this payment within 1-2 pay periods following your termination.
The PTO grant is given to you on the wednesday of pay week following the completion of each pay period. You must be actively employed on the last day of that pay period (Saturday) in order to receive the grant.
PTO cannot be taken after notice of termination has been given, even if it has been pre-approved, unless required by law.
The mail code assigned to the employee will determine the state policy the employee will follow (ex: an employee works in CA but lives in NV; their mail code is in CA, therefore they follow the CA state PTO policy).
If you look at the fine print for PTO is is granted and not considered to be compensation unless your state says otherwise. So max you get paid for is 40 hrs if you have that in your bucket at the time of departure. So by default anything over 40hr you got is gone
Varies by state. My state does not require PTO pay out. I knew someone who was not paid out a time on his 100 hours of PTO.
many states don’t require it. this is something you should educate yourself on already.
Before notice, check Sparq for PTO policy and severance policy. Print print print. Vary per state, salary grade and years.
Depends on the state you live in