No Vacation Pay out if non-profit?

[brookben]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

My questions are concerning my rights as an employee. My situation is a mess as I work for a non-profit whose Exec. Director is a Pastor at the church next door and the non-profit started from the church but is now a 501(c)(3) organization. I work as director for an adult education center. My problems began when I decided to find a new church. Threats of firing came forward but the Pastor/Exec. Director's wife (also a Pastor of the church and Program Director for the organization) told me to find a new job.

When I took this job, the Pastor/Exec. Director told me I would not be able to cash out vacation time if I left. But, I read on the Internet that North Carolina is a state that requires employers to pay out unused, accrued vacation time. Will I be entitled to this vacation time or will I lose it? I've been incredibly devoted to my job - a job I sincerely love - and have not taken any time off since I started full-time in June 2004. I didn’t want to believe I could lose my job if I found a new church, but the unthinkable has happened.

I have never been written up or been verbally counseled for any indiscretion since I started my job. High praise is all I've heard and, since I've been the director, the program went from not meeting grant requirements to exceeding grant requirements double-fold. They would have no grounds to terminate me. But, as the Pastor/Exec. Director reminded me, NC is an at-will state and can fire me for any reason. And, he reminded me, our non-profit does not pay UI taxes so I would be left with nothing. I am also 4 months pregnant and the thought of being without work terrifies me as we could not afford pre-natal care without my income.

Thank you for answering my question regarding the vacation time. If it is not too much trouble, I am also interested in finding out if employer-required volunteer hours is legal. I am required to work over 40 hours and to count all hours over 40 hours as volunteer. I have well over 100 hours of volunteer hours to date. Per the Pastor/Exec. Director, taking half-days during the week is not allowed even though we are required to work evenings. This is not the case, however, with another director in a different department who is the Exec. Director’s daughter. She is allowed to take a half day to compensate having to work an evening and was allowed to begin that schedule her first week coming on board. I have allowed my assistant to take half days but I rarely do this because the Exec. Director became very angry with me when I took a half day in October. The only times I do it now is when I have a pre-natal doctor’s visit.

Thank you for answering my questions.

 

[cbg]

NC law requires the payout of vacation time, but does permit an employer to have a policy in which vacation payout is forfeited in certain conditions. As an example, if the company has a policy which has been communicated to the employees, in which an employee forfeits the payout of vacation if they give less than two weeks notice, then the employer can refuse to pay out vacation to an employee who gives less than two weeks notice. However, if there is no policy providing for the forfeiture, vacation pay must be provided.

So the question here is whether or not your being told, in advance, that you would not be able to take your unused vacation time if you left, constitutes a forfeiture policy which can be enforced. I can't answer that one. You're going to have to take that up with the state DOL.

Although I'm not necessarily in agreement with his reasoning, your director is correct that in an at-will state, he does not need a reason to terminate you. It IS legal to term you for going to another church - a religious organization is permitted to require that its employees be members of the same religion or the same church.

There's nothing stopping you from applying for unemployment. Some states have provisions for employees of organizations that are exempt from paying UI. However, I don't know if NC is one of them. All you can do is apply and see what happens.

The rules regarding volunteer work for employees are different for non-profits, so I can't really answer your question. I would suggest you also take this question up with your state DOL - they will be able to tell you if this is legal or not.

It is legal to have different requirements with regards to time off between departments.

 

[brookben]

*It IS legal to term you for going to another church - a religious organization is permitted to require that its employees be members of the same religion or the same church.*

The organization is a 501(c)(3) and is a separate entity from the church. I was never told that I had to be a member at that church prior to employment. It was only after I was on board that I realized it may be an issue when my assistant missed a Sunday service and the Pastor told me to get his butt in gear and back in our church because he couldn't allow the tithe to go to a different church.

I would be really shocked to learn that terminating me for this reason might be legal in my situation.

 

[cbg]

You can check with your state discrimination board, but the type of entity makes no difference. If the organization is affiliated with the church, even if they are separate entities for tax purposes, what I said is going to hold.