NYS Vacations

Whether an employer in New York must pay for unused time depends upon the terms of the vacation or resignation policy. New York courts have held that an agreement to give benefits or wage supplements, like vacation, can specify that employees lose accrued benefits under certain conditions (such as termination for cause, or resignation without two weeks' notice). For these terms to be valid, the employer must have told employees, in writing, of the conditions that will result in loss of vacation time or other benefits. If employees have not been informed in writing, any forfeiture provisions will be invalid.

Since the law doesn't mandate vacation or sick leave, it's up to you to make these agreements with your employees. You can define the terms of these benefits in an employee handbook or other handout. For example:

Paid Vacation Time

If you're going to provide vacation time to employees

• Apply consistent accrual standards for each employee to prevent discrimination claims.
• Abide by state restrictions, such as those regarding the accrual of vacation time, the class of employees you can exclude from the benefit, and whether you can tell an employee when to take vacation time.
• When an employee earns vacation time as work hours accumulate, vacation pay is considered a form of wages. Make sure you explain what will happen to earned and unused vacation time.

Sick Leave

If you’re providing sick leave:

• Describe the rules for sick leave in the handbook. For example, if you will require employees to provide a doctor's note when taking sick leave, spell that out.
• Decide whether to pay employees for accrued but unused sick leave when employment ends and explain that policy.

Paid Time Off

These days, many companies combine sick leave and vacation into a more general benefit called Paid Time Off (PTO). Employees receive a certain number of days for vacation, sick leave, and personal time and can use them whenever needed, for whichever reason. This prevents employees from having to use sick days when they really need a day off for something else.

Related articles

• How to strategically manage vacation requests
• Does your vacation and PTO carry over to the New Year?
• Guidelines for offering paid time off