A question in parallel with legal question/employer/vacation question

[RU482]

I work for a small engineering firm. The company has two offices in two towns 135 miles apart. The office I work for is closing.

They are offering NO severance package to the remaining employees, stating that we were offered a job at the other office (two hours away), so they could not justify paying us severance.

I have worked for this company for almost 3 years, so I hear alot of what is going on. I caught wind of the closing months before it occured (Jul 31 closing, actually). So, I took all of my two weeks vacation.

Now I find out that they are docking our last paycheck for un-earned vacation (news to me). Appearently, they are pro-rating the vacation tim e we earn by how many months of the year we have worked (7), so I have to pay them back for ~4 days.

Is this Legal? I looked over my contract and it doesn't even mention vacation, nontheless having to pay it back. :|

 

[xochi]

doesnt sound legal. In most states your paycheck cannot be docked unless you give written authorization for it. In Texas you could contact the payday law unit of the Workforce Commission (State Employment Agency) and they would put a lein on the company until they give you whats due. unpaid vacation, unpaid wages upaid overtime etc...

This law also pertains when employers take "mistakes" out of employees checks. i.e. giving wrong change to a customer, breaking something expensive, etc... This are called the cost of doing business and your employer cannot dock your check unless they have written authorization from you.

 

[bones10]

I think the vacation thing is legal.

Often vacation is accrued a little at time each pay period. For example, if you get paid monthly you would accrue 6.67 hours of vacation each month.

So, if you have taken some vacation that you have not yet accrued, you have to pay that back to them upon termination of employment.

On the other hand, the "no-severence" package deal sounds pretty shady to me. I would question if that one is legal.

- bones

 

[AndrewR]

It depends on whether or not your vacation is accrued or given outright, which would depend on your contract. If your contract is silent on the issue, it's going to fall on either Texas law or federal employment guidelines (not sure, this isn't my area of expertise).

If your contract states that you are given X number of days vacation, then it would probably be construed to mean that you do not earn them per se, but they are granted outright at the beginning of the year. Without advance warning that you would be docked for taking them, I'd take a guess that it's illegal (they wouldn't be closing for financial reasons, would they?).

If your contract mentions nothing about vacation, then I'm not so sure what would happen. Depending on how much 4 days is worth, it may or may not be worth talking to a lawyer in your area.

BTW, this isn't legal advice.

 

[chansen]

Though I am by no means an expert here, my HR courses at university tell me that this is summary dismissal. That is, they have made your job (in this case, your commute) so much more difficult that it forces you to quit. Moving the company is one method to summarily dismiss an employee, but more common ones are increased/decreased workloads and reduced status (small office, no support, etc.)

Now, you have only been there three years, so don't expect much severance.

First, if you are an engineer, check with your local engineering association. If not, find a lawyer and figure out your options. It's at least worth that.

Regards,
Craig

 

[RU482]

AndrewR,

How perceptive, how did you know it was financial reasons

It just sucks that you give a company 3 years and they screw you like this :|