Wifes denied vacation

[deputysaj]

What is the name of your state? Ohio.
My wife has worked for a neurologists office and for the sake of argument we will say she was hired Jan 01 1999.. She worked full-time for 5 years becoming fully vested and earning 5 weeks vacation and full medical benifits. in 2004 she went back to school part time to get her Nursing degree, at that time her employer said that she would have to go to part time to keep her job.(her school hours meant she would have to leave work 1 hour early twice a week). She kept working 35+ hours a week and her employer said she would receive no benefits and no vacation time. after 13 months of this (her working 35 hours plus a week) they made her full-time again 40 hours a week. Her employer states that her hire date has changed from the original Jan 01 1999 to the new full-time date and that she is not entitled to her seniority and her vacation time and benefits start over at 0 although her 401k and pension still go off her original hire date. My question is can her employer take away her seniority and vacation and tell her she has to start over from her new Full-time hire date even though she has had continues employment with no gaps or termination?

 

[cbg]

In the absence of a bona fide contract that says otherwise, yes, he can. Neither Federal nor Ohio law requires an employer to use any particular method with the accrual of vacation or other benefits. There is nothing in the law that requires seniority to be considered at all, and vacation benefits are at the discretion of the employer.

Pension and 401k plans, however, are covered under Federal law which is why those plans have continued to be based on the original hire date.