Do I have the right to collect my earned PTO when I leave my company if I was not provided with the company policy which states otherwise?
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Do I have the right to collect my earned PTO when I leave my company if I was not provided with the company policy which states otherwise?
I recently resigned from my position and had 64 hours of unused and accrued PTO. I was employed with the company for under a year, so wasn’t paid the PTO due a policy that states that 1 year of employment is required. However, I never received this policy but HR stated that it was saved on the company intranet. If I had known that this policy existed, I would have either requested to use the PTO or not given them a full 2-week notice. I don’t see how it can be expected for me to work 2 weeks and train my
replacement on how to do the job, yet I am not entitled to the accrued benefits that I had earned. Do I have a case in small claims court?
Asked on December 30, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Kentucky
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
There is no inherent right to be paid for unused paid time off (PTO) on termination of employment in your state. That means that unless you had a written contract or clear, unequivocal policy from your employer guarantying you PTO payment if your employment ended how and when it did, you have no right to it; having no right to it, you cannot sue for it. So only if you had a contract or your employer had a clear policy guarantying you the paymet under these circumstances, are you entitled to it; you did, you could sue for the money on that basis.
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