Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington
Payment of Vacation acrued
Employee submitted resignation to resign on 7/24. Employer decided to extend employee's employment to 7/31. According to employee handbook, on 7/26, employee should receive 1 wk paid vacation - acrued upon 6 month's of employment. On last paycheck employer decided not to pay the vacation because employee requested to resign on 7/24. Is employer's decision legal?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Payment of Vacation acrued
If the employer's policy is to grant vacation as of a particular date, it cannot legally change that policy just because an employee has indicated an intent to resign. So long as the employee remains employed, he should be entitled to receive pay for the unused, accrued vacation. If the employer fails to pay, it may be subject to a penalty of up to 30 days wages, plus attorneys fees incurred by the employee.
The above does not constitute legal opinion and is offered for the purposes of discussion only. The law differs in every jurisdiction, and you should not rely on any opinion except that of an attorney you have retained, who has a professional duty to advise you after being fully informed of all the pertinent facts and who is familiar with the applicable law.