Expert: Shirley McAllister, CPP, PHR - 8/10/2008

Question
in the 1980's i banked 1 vacation week each year at ohio bell telephone company and was supposed to be paid for it at retirement-just looking into it now as that time is approaching and the union told me that option was removed in the contract in 1987 or so and that i should have gotten the money either the last part of the year or the beginning of the next year, after i told them when i wanted it-i was never notified nor asked when i wanted it and never recievbed the money for all the weeks-they told me the payroll records no longer exist -any ideas, i have exhausted all of mine. thanks so much

Answer
Do you have any emails or letters saying that you have banked the vacation time? I know I send my employees letters letting them know how much PTO they have unused. That would be very helpful. an old employee handbook from that time stating that you can do this would also be helpful.

The Ohio statute reads as follows: Employers that agree to provide vacation pay become the trustee of the
funds. Payment must be made within 30 days after the close of the pay period during which the pay was earned.

I would contact your local Ohio Workforce Office Here is the map where you can click on your locality and find the office nearest to you.http://www.ohioworkforce.org/jobseekers/onestopmap.stm

I don't know if they can help, the only other suggestion is to get all your information together and take the company to small claims court for unpaid vacation time.

It's sad when employees work years for employers and when they get ready to retire they are cheated out of the time promised by an employer. I think that is very unethical of your employer.

Shirley