Accrued Vacation Time

[detlef4]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

My husband's company is headquartered in Ohio. In the past, employees accrued vacation time to be used during the following calendar year. The amount of time accrued was based on years of service. In 2005, my husband accrued 15 days of vacation to be used beginning Jan. 1, 2006.

Beginning this year (notification rec'd on Jan 3, 2007), the company switched to an 'earn-as-you-go' policy. This means that throughout the year, my husband will earn a pre-determined amount of vacation time per month which will eventually add up to 15 days. This time is to be used during 2007.

My question - Can his company take away the vacation time that he accrued as an employee for 2006? According to his HR, he is no longer entitled to those hours. Is this legal?

Also, his company is in Ohio, but we live in Illinois. If there are different state laws, which one would apply?

Thanks

 

[cbg]

Unless he has a bona fide contract that guarantees certain benefits, the employer most certainly can change their policies going forward.

With regards to time he already has accrued, in which state does he WORK?

 

[pattytx]

And they aren't "taking away" anything from what I can see. It appears it's ALWAYS been an "earn as you go" policy. Am I missing something?

 

[detlef4]

Since he began with the company about 12 years ago, the vacation time that he earned couldn't be used until the following calendar year. I didn't think that was 'earn-as-you-go', but perhaps I am misunderstanding the correct definition of that phrase.

When 2007 began, he thought he had 15 days of vaction to use - all in January if he wanted to take an extended vacation. However, his HR told him that he would earn 15 hours during 2007. This is different than what it was in the past.

As for the state, we live in Illinois. He is in sales and his territory is IL, WI and IA. His company is headquartered in Ohio.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[ecmst12]

Sounds like all hours accrued in 2006 could not be used until 2007 according to the old policy, so he should have 15 days of last year's earned vacation available now, in addition to whatever he accrues monthly going forward. But they now want to take those 15 days away because they were earned under the old policy. That definitely sounds fishy, but it might not be illegal; a lot of states don't really regulate this stuff and the employees are kind of left out in the cold.