Employers usually reserve the right to approve in advance when their employees can schedule requested vacation time. But can an employer with a garden-variety vacation/PTO policy (i.e., non-union, non-ERISA) ever require employees to use accrued vacation or PTO for an otherwise unpaid absence from work?
Consider the following commonly occurring scenarios:
1. Sally needs to take a leave of absence to care for her ailing father.
2. Mike needs to take a leave of absence to deal with his own disabling medical condition.
3. Pregnant employee, Marcia, just found out she is ordered to bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy.
4. Frank announces his plan to retire. Then his supervisor makes her own announcement: Frank must use his vacation now, before his resignation is effective.
5. When the company closes for the last week of the year, all employees must use their vacation or PTO time.
Remember the Rules:
Contrary to what many employees believe, vacation or PTO is not an entitlement. It is a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee. So, the accrual and terms of use can generally be subject to whatever reasonable restrictions and requirements the employer’s policy provides. The key to validity here is the reasonableness of the restrictions.
Reasonable restrictions can be things like:
✓ Only full-time employees are eligible for vacation
✓ No one is eligible to accrue vacation until completing 90 days of employment
✓ Vacation can be taken in minimum increments of, say, 4 hours or 1 day
Continue Reading So Vacate Already! — When Can An Employer Force Employees To Take Paid Time Off?