PTO Differential Payout

[quincy]

As long as the contract complies with the law. I should have written the expanded version of my last post instead of stopping where I did. I originally planned to type "California frowns about clauses in employment contracts that violate state law".

Most states frown upon clauses in employment contracts that violate state laws. And I would have said all states, but who knows what’s happening in states like Florida and Texas.

But there are clauses in California employment contracts that do not violate state law and that can control how PTO is paid out. For one example, a contract clause can cap the amount of PTO a worker can accumulate.

 

[cbg]

For one example, a contract clause can cap the amount of PTO a worker can accumulate.

And that is specifically allowed under CA law. But it is irrelevant to the question of the rate that the employer must use to pay it out. Which was NOT changed by any recent CA law and is still the same as it was in 2003.

I really do check my work before I post.

 

[quincy]

... I really do check my work before I post.

Although I don’t doubt you check your work before posting, your first post made you sound unsure. And PayrollHRGuy’s linked opinion from 2003 might not be relevant in 2022.

I am not comfortable giving definitive answers when so little information is provided.

 

[cbg]

I will be sure to be more definitive next time. This is not an issue with any shades of grey to it. CA law has no provision for any kind of vacation or other leave payout at any rate but the employee's current rate, and I specifically checked for shift differentials. I don't like superlatives either, but this particular issue is not open to question.

 

[quincy]

I will be sure to be more definitive next time. This is not an issue with any shades of grey to it. CA law has no provision for any kind of vacation or other leave payout at any rate but the employee's current rate, and I specifically checked for shift differentials. I don't like superlatives either, but this particular issue is not open to question.

Fair enough.

 

[Chipan]

Thanks for the info. For now I contacted HR and they said they forwarded the case to the payroll team. My manager seems confident they will just correct the discrepancy, but I wasn’t sure and wanted to see if I had legal recourse. I know the policy clearly states I’m entitled to the differential pay, but I wanted to see if I was also entitled per state law. Thanks again.

 

[Chipan]

Update

HR recently responded to me saying that differential is not paid for PTO that is paid out. I responded specifically on the policy to see if I could get them to admit they are not following their own policy. The policy states “team members who qualify for shift differential will receive that differential for both hours actually worked and hours paid (i.e., holiday hours, PTO, and floating holidays) during each pay period.”
It seems clear to me that this includes payouts of PTO, but I then got this response:
“The shift differential is paid when the PTO is taken as a day off. It is not applied when PTO is paid out in a lump sum.”

Given this, it seems they’re playing on the wording within the policy to derive meanings that are clearly contrary to its actual wording. I’m tempted to go straight to the DOL if they are going to be this dishonest about it.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Update

HR recently responded to me saying that differential is not paid for PTO that is paid out. I responded specifically on the policy to see if I could get them to admit they are not following their own policy. The policy states “team members who qualify for shift differential will receive that differential for both hours actually worked and hours paid (i.e., holiday hours, PTO, and floating holidays) during each pay period.”
It seems clear to me that this includes payouts of PTO, but I then got this response:
“The shift differential is paid when the PTO is taken as a day off. It is not applied when PTO is paid out in a lump sum.”

Given this, it seems they’re playing on the wording within the policy to derive meanings that are clearly contrary to its actual wording. I’m tempted to go straight to the DOL if they are going to be this dishonest about it.

The policy doesn't matter. Before you go to the CA DIR show your HR department the opinion letter I linked to back on post #3.

 

[LdiJ]

Update

HR recently responded to me saying that differential is not paid for PTO that is paid out. I responded specifically on the policy to see if I could get them to admit they are not following their own policy. The policy state
e., holiday hours, PTO, and floating holidays) during each pay period.”

It seems clear to me that this includes payouts of PTO, but I then got this response:
“The shift differential is paid when the PTO is taken as a day off. It is not applied when PTO is paid out in a lump sum.”

Given this, it seems they’re playing on the wording within the policy to derive meanings that are clearly contrary to its actual wording. I’m tempted to go straight to the DOL if they are going to be this dishonest about it.

You certainly have the right to take it to the DOL. Whether or not you should depends on a whole host of factors that we don't know about. If you value and want to keep your job, and the amount of money involved is relatively small, then it might not be in your best interest to rock the boat.

If it is a large amount of money and/or you don't care if you keep the job, then you might want to fight it all the way.

 

[Chipan]

The policy doesn't matter. Before you go to the CA DIR show your HR department the opinion letter I linked to back on post #3.

Forgive me if I'm not cynical enough yet to consider policy to be worth less than the paper it's on. I generally think that a company who honors their policy is operating good faith, thus to expect every company not to honor their policy is to expect every company to act in bad faith. So I do think it is important to find out whether a company is willing to honor their policy as written.

But so far I sent the letter telling them there's a legal issue to consider. They haven't responded yet, but they changed the status of my inquiry from on hold back to assigned which tells me that they're looking into it.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Forgive me if I'm not cynical enough yet to consider policy to be worth less than the paper it's on. I generally think that a company who honors their policy is operating good faith, thus to expect every company not to honor their policy is to expect every company to act in bad faith. So I do think it is important to find out whether a company is willing to honor their policy as written.

But so far I sent the letter telling them there's a legal issue to consider. They haven't responded yet, but they changed the status of my inquiry from on hold back to assigned which tells me that they're looking into it.

You are forgiven, but in this case, no matter what the policy is the law overrides it.