What can I do about extra PTO that was accidentally paid out to me?
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What can I do about extra PTO that was accidentally paid out to me?
I left for a 3 week trip to Germany and had about 90 hours of PTO saved up. I requested to have 60 hours paid out to me. The request was approved. I serve tables and manage the kitchen. When I serve my wage is $5.00 an hour which is a legal wage rate for a tipped employee; when I manage the kitchen I make $15 an hour. They agreed to pay me in the middle at $10 an hour while I was gone. I took euros to Europe with me and never once looked at my bank account. I’m having a baby in 2 months and asked the HR manager how much PTO I had. She immediately looked scared and said I was in the negative. I asked how this was possible and she said that she
Asked on October 14, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Idaho
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
If you were gone at least 90 hours, so you were paid for all your PTO time (i.e. none was taken away unpaid), there really is nothing you can do about: you did not suffer any actually monetary or economic loss, so there is no way to sue for compensation, for example--you can only get compensation for actual losses. And while you could in theory bring a lawsuit in chancery court seeking a court order requiring them to restore the PTO, if you did that: 1) you'd then have to repay the money for those 30 hours paid out to you; and 2) you'd have to bear you own legal costs (around $200 - $300) yourself; and also 3) you'd lose probably a day of work/earnings--so you'd have to return money from your bank account, give up work time, and spend money out of pocket to do this.
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