Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Final Paycheck including vacation
I submitted an immediate resignation on October 12, 2004 at 3pm. I was owed 45 hours of vacation at the time of resignation. I received a paycheck on October 15th covering October 1st - 15th, which was 26 hours over the pay required up until the 12th at 3pm. This paycheck was not deemed my final paycheck by the company, since there was still a balance of 45 hours vacation time on the check. On October 29th, I received another paycheck which included the entire pay period from the 16th through the 31st, still with no indication of a final paycheck or a payment for the vacation hours.
As of November 16th, I still have not received a final paycheck that clears my vacation pay. I contacted the company and they are now claiming that I was overpaid by 66 hours because of the full paycheck I received on the 29th of October. They also claim that they have no legal requirement to pay me vacation pay within the 72 hours, and that they can wait until the next pay cycle.
My question is do they have the legal right to postpone my vacation pay. Even though the first check covered 26 hours of my vacation, am I still entitled to my regular pay until they fulfill the balance of the remaining 19 hours?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Final Paycheck including vacation
Since you quit without notice, your final pay for all wages due to you, including vacation pay must be issued to you within 72 hours of the quit. Thus as of 10/15, you should have been paid through the 12th, plus 45 hours of vacation pay. If I understand the facts, as of the 15th, you were paid 26 hours pay over the time worked, so you were short 19 hours of vacation pay. At that point, under Labor Code Section 203, your daily wage (I assume 8 hours) will continue to accrue, up to a maximum of 30 days, as a penalty for the failure to pay you in full upon your separation. If the daily wage, multiplied by the 14 days until you were paid plus the 19 hours of vacation pay is more than the sum you were paid on the 29th, you are owed additional penalties, if less, you may owe a refund to the employer
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