I am sure this has been discussed but I could not find answer

I work for a company that awarded me 3 weeks vacation at the start of the year I plan on leaving this company am I entitled to this time being that is was already awarded

NJ law only requires the payout of unused vacation if company policy so states.

Depends on whether or not it was an up-front grant (rare) or that's the amount you will earn IF you work the entire year (much more common) AND the policy requires such payment. NJ is a "follow the company policy" state.

Depends on whether or not it was an up-front grant (rare) or that's the amount you will earn IF you work the entire year (much more common) AND the policy requires such payment. NJ is a "follow the company policy" state.


Let me explain the some more, I started 4/06 , 1/07 I was awarder 11 vacation days based on my previous years employment so at the start of this year I was awarded 15 days
I thought nj was one of the few states that you can get the days paid if owed

Let US explain more.

It is exceedingly rare that an employer grants a block of time at the beginning of the year. It is far, far more common that the time accrues gradually over the year. Many employers will allow you to use time before it is actually accrued, leaving employees mistakenly to believe that they own (and are owed) the entire year's allotment from the beginning of the year.

Obviously we don't know what your employer's policy is. But the odds are very great that you do not actually own the entire block of time.

And no, if you thought that NJ state law mandated the payout of unused vacation, you were wrong. An employer MAY pay out unused vacation. They are not REQUIRED to do so unless they have a policy that says they will.

It is unusual for state law on vacation to be anything other telling the company to follow their own published policy. California is the major exception that everyone likes to quote. While CA is not the only with restrictive state laws that impose rules on employers (other then "follow your policy"), the total number of such states is not large, probably fewer then 10. And as stated, NJ is not one of those few states.

Regarding the granting of large blocks of PTO time at the beginning of the year, the practice is not illegal, but is generally considered to be "dumb" from the employer standpoint. Any compensation and benefits person with even a little formal training would know better. I have never worked for an employer with such a practice. I did work for several employers who bought other companies with some regularity and such a practice would be eliminated ASAP. However, there are indeed some "dumb" employers out there. You need to read your company's policy. NJ may indeed hold the company to the exact wording of the policy, so smart employees should always read their company's policy manuals. Not all (or most for that matter) policies are legally enforcable, but enough are that smart employers are careful to only say what they mean in a policy manual.

And of course, if the company does not have a policy of paying out vacation, the question of how vacation is accrued becomes moot.

True, although policies do not necessarily have to be written to be legally enforcable. If the employer acts like they have a policy, then there is a least the possibility that a court can hold the employer to what the court feels is the employer's implied policy. There is a certain risk to employers letting individual supervisors and managers make certain decisions on the fly.

I didn't say, written policy.