I've worked for a small corporation for almost 15 years, in this time I've acquired lots of vacation hours. Not all of these hours will be used by the time of my departure, which is on good standing. Is it possible to deny pay of these hours after I've stopped working there? Or are the vacation hours something they can legally choose not pay me for?
Answer
This is a little tricky because they don't have to pay but you can sue them for it.
Legally, under the Missouri statutes, employers are not obligated to pay accrued vacation time after termination, retirement, or death.
Under a theory of contract law, you could sue for the uncompensated time, vacation, etc. if the employment contract states that these accrued compensations are available to employees. You could also sue under a theory of estoppel, meaning you benefited the employer by working more hours than you were compensated for.
As a matter of good practice, I would advise employers to compensate employees for accrued time when the employment relationship ceases.
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