Legal Question in Employment Law in Massachusetts
Employee Benefits Law/ Earned Vacation
I have been employed for over 10 years by a very large bank. I was expecting after 10 years of service that I had earned a 4th week of vacation this year just like all my co-workers. To my surprise, I found out today that the employees handbook states that my grade level doesn't reward me with this benefit because my grade level doesn't justify it! It states that I must work 15 years to acquire this extra week. I feel it is unfair that lower grade/wage employees are not valued the same across the bank regarding your years of service. At this time I would also like to say that I do some of the work that the analyst do. These accounts have been assigned to me for years and no promotion or money came my way, just the responsibility. I never persued the higher grade level job because I chose not to research documents in a vault area- it's is too stressful for me and not what I find interesting work. Bottom line, I like what I do and was happy at work but if I thought it would have cost me vacation time I would have gone for those jobs.
Does the law allow a big bank like this to blatantly devalue our hard work and commitment to the bank for 10 years just because it can do what ever it wants and we can leave if we don't like it?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Employee Benefits Law/ Earned Vacation
A private company can set whatever policies and procedures it wants to set, so long as they don't run afoul of applicable laws/regulations. ssuming the policy has always been the way i is now (and that you only recently discovered it), there is nothing wrong with the company offering better benefits to employees they deem more valuable to0 their operations. They probably do so as a recruiting tool; to incent talented people in those more important positions to join your bank, instead of some other. Less educated or sophisticated positions are more easily filled, so the bank has no need to incentivize particularly talented people to fill those positions.
Don't take it pernally. It does NOT mean you are unappreciated or not essential to the operations; you are. Its just a market principle that people who possess higher educational degrees or have the ability to meet thye bank's needs for more important positions are fewer in number and thus - under the principle of supply and demand - they get rewarded better. Its basic economics.
Now, if the policy was only recently changed, and only a to you (and not others in positions deemed equal to yours), then there is a slim possibility you could have a claim. But assuming this is and has always been the policy, it is not uncommon and entirely appropriate.
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