Can they refuse to pay me for my accrued vacation time?

I work for a company in Colorado and have accrued about 70hrs of vacation time in the past few months. Supposedly I have to use them all up by mid September or loose them. I talked to my sup earlier today about taking time off in early September and he basically said I am screwed because there are staffing issues at the moment and my request will be denied. Ok that's all fine and dandy, I don't mind putting in the work. My question however is, is it legal for them to just say that I automatically loose all that time without some kind of compensation because they cant find a replacement during that period even though I am asking well within the time frame for which I am supposed to ask?

You can visit online with your state department of employment to see the rules, but vacation time is just as much a part of your pay as the money you get for working. File a DOE complaint if you have to... try your courthouse.

DOE? What is does the Department of Education (Energy??) have to do with this? Do you mean DOL?? Department of Labor?

In any event, it only takes a MOMENT to actually research the posters answer. I know your dislike for factual information, but after all, this is NOT a fictional board, but rather a FACTUAL legal forum. Learn the difference.

Colorado

VACATION PAY, 5(I)
VACATION NOT REQUIRED

Colorado wage law does not require that vacation time be given. Colorado wage law does not require paid vacation and does not require that an employer establish a vacation policy.

VACATION POLICY
An employer may establish a vacation policy in writing or by custom and practice. Employees must be made aware of the employer’s policy. Employers and employees must follow established policy unless and until that policy is changed. We recommend that employers develop their vacation policy in consultation with legal counsel.

VACATION AS WAGES OR COMPENSATION
Colorado wage law provides that vacation pay, earned in accordance with the terms of any agreement, is classified as wages or compensation. If an employer provides paid vacation for an employee, the employer shall pay upon separation from employment all vacation pay earned and determinable in accordance with the terms of any agreement between the employer and the employee.

GRANTING OF VACATION LEAVE
In general, the granting of vacation leave by an employer for a current employee is made pursuant to the employer’s policy. The Division of Labor does not intervene in disputes involving the scheduling of vacation leave or the denial of use of vacation leave for current employees.

REFERENCES
Colorado Revised Statutes 8-4-101(8)(a)(III) (Vacation Pay)

WEBSITE LINKS
Welcome to The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (Colorado Department of Labor and Employment)
1/28/08

Think a little deeper dearie.

Think a little longer and stop relying on definitions.

The simple fact is that if there is a method that her company uses to calculate vacation time, then there IS a vacation policy. It does not come and go at the whim of the supervisors. It is a standard and is probably covered in the employee handbook. But IN ANY EVENT, this employee knew how to calculate the vacation time, so the employer is definitely on the hook to either pay poster for that time or allow poster to TAKE the time. NO REQUIREMENT for the EMPLOYER'S reasons will allow the EMPLOYER to deny the vacation time unless it is STATED IN THE SAME HANDBOOK that the EMPLOYEE CANNOT RECOVER THE VACATION TIME WHEN THE EMPLOYER REQUIRES THE EMPLOYEE TO BE THERE until the stipulated vacation time is OVER. This is kind of like requiring hourly employees to be available for overtime but then because they worked for less than an hour, denying them overtime pay. Except that the Department of Employment, or Labor depending on where you are, would probably file against an employer for doing that to a person's overtime pay. I believe it is the same for vacations... but there could be a law against anything in some red states.

So what you copied from some law blog may have a bearing, but does NOT answer Poster's question.... as usual.

This forum is a LEGAL forum and we do NOT MAKE UP things---well, those of us who are serious about the law do not.

The information I provided is NOT just a definition---its the ACTUAL law, NOT a legal blog. The information you are denying is the actual LAW. How stupid to argue with the actual statute in front of you.
Colorado Revised Statutes 8-4-101(8)(a)(III) (Vacation Pay)

WEBSITE LINKS
Welcome to The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (Colorado Department of Labor and Employment)

Where did I say anything to the contrary?? I did not. YOU just paraphrased the law I provided! ROFLMAO
I made NO comment about the posters issue beside to POST a copy of the actual law. The fact YOU cannot recognize the difference between a law blog and the actual information clearly titled "COLORADO STATUTES" is a reflection on you, and not on the legitimacy of the material provided.

Since you MISSED the ANSWER clearly written IN the law, allow me to copy and paste JUST the specific answer for you.

SHE ASKED: is it legal for them to just say that I automatically loose all that time without some kind of compensation?

The COLORADO STATUTE (not a legal blog someone made up) says: Colorado wage law provides that vacation pay, earned in accordance with the terms of any agreement, is classified as wages or compensation. If an employer provides paid vacation for an employee, the employer shall pay upon separation from employment all vacation pay earned and determinable in accordance with the terms of any agreement between the employer and the employee.

Just because YOU missed the answer (as provided from the actual statute--not a law blog) doesn't mean it isn't there. The COLORADO statute I provided IS the final word on the matter because its the LAW and not just my opinion. The gospel according to Boykin isn't worth the bandwidth its using.

You may find this article useful: Accrued Vacation, Overdrawn Vacation, and the Final Paycheck

I will say it again... so long as you quote the law and ignore the facts given by the poster, you are NOT providing a service through this forum... and given that you harass other posters, you provide a distinct disservice.

The basic information YOU gave was that the state did not require a company to give vacations to employees... ignoring that this one did... and furthermore, did not require that employees actually be allowed to TAKE said vacation... ignoring the fact that the company rules would have put poster's vacation in jeopardy... so while you might consider your job done, you in fact did nothing to assist the poster to understand what he questioned.

And furthermore, the way you left it with nothing more said, the implication you left was that poster not only would not GET the vacation time, but would have no way to stop the employer from declining to allow his vacation to stand.


BUT MY MAJOR POINT IS THAT YOU DIDN'T GO FAR ENOUGH IN LOOKING UP THE LAW, OR YOU WOULD KNOW THAT VACATION TIME IS JUST AS MUCH PAY AS OVERTIME OR ANY OTHER PAY FOR SERVICE AND CANNOT BE ABRIDGED AS A RIGHT UNLESS IT IS THE FAULT OF THE EMPLOYEE FOR NOT PLANNING A VACATION.... THE NEEDS OF THE BUSINESS ARE NOT CONSIDERED A FAULT OF THE EMPLOYEE... SO YOU LEFT INADEQUATE ADVICE... WHOLLY INADEQUATE TO THE STORY TOLD AND QUESTIONS ASKED.

SO LEARN TO READ... AND QUIT COPYING OTHER PEOPLE'S EXPLANATIONS OF TOTALLY DIFFERENT SITUATIONS AND START TRYING TO MAKE A SENSIBLE DIAGNOSIS OF THE ISSUES STATED BY THE POSTER AND HOW THEY ARE TREATED UNDER THE LAW. SO SORRY THAT YOU HAVE LITTLE EXPERIENCE IN BUSINESS AND NONE IN THIS AREA OF THE LAW SO THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD AN EASIER TIME, BUT THEN YOU JUST NEED TO LEARN TO THINK. NOT TO PLAGIARIZE.

Only a FOOL mocks the quoted law , especially in a legal forum. Just another instance of your bias against the law of this country. Thanks for displaying it again.

And you had a VERY CLEAR taste of what "other posters" thought of you and your advice-----may I suggest you NOT speak for them? They were rather clear. (giggle)

SHOW me where I said that the state did not require the company to give vacation to the employees and this one does... (this--an indefinite reference to the state? the vacation the employees??)



lmao first you made up stuff you GUESS I said, and NOW you fault me for NOT saying it??????
I implied NOTHING. I quoted the law in its entirety and am going to assume that the POSTER knows how to read. I am going to bet ten to one the poster appreciates the ability to read the law for himself/herself and NOT trust anonymous blathering on the Internet. KNOWLEDGE is POWER.


FIRST you SCOLD me for looking up the law, NOW you GRIPE because I didn't "go far enough" in looking it up. LMAOOOO
Time for meds yet???? Hey..........if it is your educated opinion (LMAO) that I did NOT "go far enough" in LOOKING up the answer, why didn't YOU LOOK IT UP for the posters benefit?? Hmmmmm?? Why didn't you POST what I didn't look up properly? And........hey, stay tuned---in the next paragraph, you call looking stuff up plagiarism! ROFLMAO CUCKOOOOOO CUCKOOOO............Seriously, stop now--I'm getting whiplash!!
You're right! Omgosh, I totally MISSED that point........... too bad I didn't make that point when I quoted the law that said, "Colorado wage law provides that vacation pay, earned in accordance with the terms of any agreement, is classified as wages or compensation"...........OOPSIE POOPSIE! THERE IT IS! Gosh darn it, I DID say JUST THAT!! RIGHT from the LAWBOOK!!! And I CAN'T READ????? LMAO Its right there--nearly verbatim!!
WHERE did I say that it was?

Do you know how NUTTY you look, when faced with the ENTIRE COLORADO STATUE, you all it "INADQUATE"?? Another example of the doctrine according to Boykin (aka, the way it will NEVER be)............

.LMAO this is NOT a creative writing class, Cupcake. It is a LEGAL FORUM and guess from whence CORRECT answers come?????? THE LAW. Plagiarism is stealing someone elses work as your own without giving credit.

Given that definition of plagiarism, (I know--I know--you hate those), how is quoting the law in its ENTIRETY and IDENTIFYING it as COLORADO STATUTE and linking the poster to the source of the information remotely plagiarizing?

Another definition for you--BI POLAR. Look it up.