My employer is extremely sloppy with accounting and record keeping, and I am thinking of leaving. This company has less than 10 employees, and there has never been a written handbook or any employee handbook. I am non-exempt (hourly). This is in California.

The facts:
1. There is a vacation time spreadsheet filed on the computer with our time sheets. It tracks hours worked, vacation hours available, and vacation time redeemed for all employees. Vacation time was accrued at a rate of 5% of hours worked.
2. This spreadsheet has not been updated since mid-2003, when I had approximately 50 hours accrued (according to the spreadsheet).
3. When I asked why my recent time off was not paid, I was told that we are paid for scheduled holidays only and vacation time is not paid. This is in conflict with the not-updated-for-3 years vacation time spreadsheet.
4. I have been at my current employer over 5 years. (I was still in college when I started.) If the rate on the spreadsheet was calculated out to the present-day, I should have over 300 hours of paid vacation time accrued. That's a lot of money.
5. There was no mention of any policy change until now when this came up.
6. There is no written policy or handbook other than the out-of-date vacation spreadsheet on the computer.

Questions:
1. Am I entitled to the 60 hours listed on the document as of mid-2003?
2. Am I entitled to additional time for the three years worked since then?
3. I'm not one for negotiations. I can be a pushover, or I can play hardball. I'm not real good in between. How should I go about this? :confused: :confused: :confused:

First, I would ask if paid vacation has been eliminated as a benefit and, if so, when that was. Under California law, you cannot lose what you had already accrued. Then post back.

I tried to ask today, but the accountant/hr person (boss's wife) did not show up (as usual). :mad: I'll try again tomorrow and post back.