SHOP TALK / ORANGE COUNTY : Regulations Vary for Rolling Over Time Off

Q I work for a company that gives two weeks of vacation at the beginning of the year. If you don’t use the time by Dec. 31, it can’t roll over. Is this legal?

--M.J., Simi Valley

*

A If the two weeks constitutes your vacation time, your employer cannot lawfully take it away if you do not use it in a given year. But your company can pay you for unused time at the end of the year, or it can impose a rule that you will not earn any more vacation time until you take the time you have already earned.

If this two weeks is in addition to vacation (for example, sick leave or personal days), your employer can lawfully take it away at the end of the year if you do not use it.

--James J. McDonald Jr.

Attorney, Fisher & Phillips LLP

Labor law instructor, UC Irvine