A little background, I am a contractor that works for another company. The company that pays me being Company 'A', and the company I actually perform the work for, being company 'B'. Company 'B', shut down for the a week between the holidays so I could not work. I had PTO time that I could have used but did not want to use it at that time. No work, no pay. When I receive my paystup from company 'A', I noticed that I did not receive my holiday pay for January 1st. After questioning why I did not receive the holiday pay, I am now being told I had to resubmit my time card for that time period and I must use my PTO time for that week I chose not to get paid for. Can the company 'A' force me to use my PTO time? and now that it is after the fact? There is no company policy regarding PTO except the amount you can accrue. As for the holiday paid, it was a company error where I was not the only one who did not receive the pay, and will receive it on the next check. I work in California and my company is in Kentucky. Thanks Neil. :confused:

In all 50 states, unless you have a bona fide contract or CBA that specifically says otherwise, the employer can require the use of PTO for any unworked days with or without your consent.

For exempt employees in CA ONLY, there MAY be some exceptions for partial day increments of less than four hours, but these would have to be looked at on a case by case basis. For full day increments, it is the employers option for both exempt and non-exempt employees in all 50 states. There does not have to be a written policy giving the employer permission for this to be true.