Vacation pay is always handed over to a worker. Refusing to pay, or undercounting the vacation time, can get an employer into legal trouble in California.

The state labor law says employers have to make good on their promise to give workers vacation pay.

The Choice to Guarantee Vacation Pay

Employers choose the vacation benefit for a worker when they join the team. No California law says they have to give the benefit. They do, however, have to treat all their workers in the same class the same. Ruling out part timers or temporaries is okay as long as all of them are ruled out.

The state law does say employers have to manage their vacations and pay cleanly. No foul play. And, follow some simple rules.

Any time vacation pay is taken away, workers have a right to file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. The labor commissioner will take the steps necessary to make the worker's earned pay equitable and fair.

The Secure Pay That Adds Up

Vacation pay is earned wages. The pay simply goes unpaid for a time. Once the vacation day is given, the money belongs to the worker. Hours build up until a worker takes a vacation. Days taken off to enjoy life are the only way to make the total lower.

An employer has to let their workers keep their earned pay. And let it grow. How the pay grows is the employer's choice. Day by day, by week, as long as at least one day is worked, or by pay period. Only one simple rule. No misses on earned hours.

No "Use It or Lose It"

Vacation time carries over until paid. Not letting a worker add hours past the end of the year is is an unfair practice in California. An employer can pay out the hours, but they can not take them away. The same goes for cutting the worker off within a short time after the end of the year. Not allowed. Workers must be paid the balance of these special wages that they earned during the year. Either when the vacation finally comes or at the end of the year.

Adding Until There Is Not One More Hour

Employers can draw the line. California allows vacation pay caps. There is a limit to how much a money wise and time wise employer can give to their workers in vacation pay. The line they draw just has to be reasonable. Two hundred hours in one year is reasonable in this state.

Nothing Taken Away At Job's End

The end of work does not cut vacation pay short. When the employer writes out the final paycheck, they have to pay out all the earned vacation hours still unused. The money is wages and gets paid at the worker's final rate of pay. Workers can demand the money no matter how they left the company. By layoff, by quit, or by a firing. Failing to give them all the money earned is a violation of the labor code.

A Lasting Mushroom

From the first day vacation time is earned, the vacation pay total grows higher, like a mushroom. Rash decisions to cut the mushroom shorter than its real height can get an employer scorned.

Sources:

Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Recapitulation of Vacation Pay.

Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Frequently Asked Questions on Vacation (July 6, 2011).

California Labor Code Section 227.3 (2011).