Is it legal to change/reduce a PTO request after it’s already been approved and without your knowledge or consent?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Is it legal to change/reduce a PTO request after it’s already been approved and without your knowledge or consent?
A month ago I requested to take paid time off PTO for the week of 07/04-07/08 and it was approved. While I was out that week, my manager emailed me my work email saying that he changed my PTO request from 4 days to 3 days instead since I would be receiving holiday pay for 07/04. Is it legal to change a PTO request after it’s already been approved like that? Should I go to HR and fight it? I only ask because I was really depending on that extra day’s pay to help pay rent. Any advice you can provide would be great.
Asked on July 15, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
PTO is a discretionary benefit. This means that an employer need not provide it. Further, to the extent that it does give it, it has a great deal of say over when and how PTO is used. Therefore, if your employer mistakenly approved PTO for a holiday, then it can change an approved PTO request. While seemingly unfair, it is legal. The fact is that in "at will" employment, a company can set the conditions of the workplace much as it sees fit. This all holds true absent an employment contract or union/collective bargaining agreement to the contray. Also, your treatment must not have constituted some form of legally actionable discrimination.
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
This is perfectly legal.
1) An obvious error or mistake can be corrected: it was obviously an error to approve you for PTO on a holiday day.
2) The employer has no legal obligation to you twice for the same day, including PTO and holiday pay.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.