Legal Question in Employment Law in Massachusetts

I was working for a company and studying in parallel. The CEO agreed verbally that my days at school (2 days a month) will not be considered vacation days. This practice followed for 6 months while the CEO was in position. After 6 months the CEO was fired and the company did not have a CEO in place. During that period - the practice was honored and no vacation days were deducted for my school days.
A new CEO and CFO were hired to the company. During the first 2 months - the practice was still honored and no vacation days were deducted. After 2 months, without any notice to me, our accounting department started deducting vacation days for my school days. I tried talking to my new CEO about it but he never "had time" to discuss.
My position with the company was terminated recently and we are still arguing about the final balance of vacation days, which affects the final pay check. The company claims that since there is no written agreement they are not required to honor the practice. I think otherwise. At the end of the day we are arguing over 7 vacation days, which is about one third of a monthly pay check - a lot of money for me.
Can I enforce a verbal agreement that was practiced for 10 months and make them pay me the money?

Asked on 7/09/10, 2:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jonas Jacobson Law Offices of Jonas Jacobson

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You might remind your employer that the Massachusetts Wage and Hour Laws entitle an employee not paid the balance of amounts due upon termination is entitled to treble damages, PLUS, most significantly in this case, attorney's fees. If you mention this point to your employer, and don't make any headway, feel free to shoot me an email:

[email protected]

Answered on 7/14/10, 6:26 pm

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