Hi, I have some questions. I worked full-time in Maryland up until this week, when I'm being forced to go part-time. I went from working 37+ hours to 16 hours this week, and I just found out that I'm not even on the schedule for next week. I have a few questions about this:

1) Is it legal to not give a part-time employee ANY hours in a given week? It says in the employee manual that a part-time employee is anyone who works 35 hours or less. Does this give them a right to give me zero, especially when I had no choice in the matter?
2) I'm taking a two-week vacation after next week, which I arranged before I was told I was going to part-time. Are they required to compensate me for all of the accrued vacation days I earned even though I'm now part-time?
3) Can I get unemployment wages even though I'm still working part-time, because I was forced to do this?

This is a small business I work for, and they're making a lot of changes to the employees to save them money. They're obviously trying to throw me out, so I'd like to know what my rights are here. Thank you very much for your input.

1) Is it legal to not give a part-time employee ANY hours in a given week? It says in the employee manual that a part-time employee is anyone who works 35 hours or less. Does this give them a right to give me zero, especially when I had no choice in the matter?Yes unless you have a cba or employment contract that says otherwise
2) I'm taking a two-week vacation after next week, which I arranged before I was told I was going to part-time. Are they required to compensate me for all of the accrued vacation days I earned even though I'm now part-time?Sorry don't know that one
3) Can I get unemployment wages even though I'm still working part-time, because I was forced to do this?Yes file for your lost wages due to reduced hours

Do part-time employees accrue vacation? Merely changing from a status that accrues to a status that does not accrue does not make the balance payable at that time.

Have you asked them what they plan on doing with the already accrued vacation?

The answer to #2 depends at least in part on company policy.

I was told at the time that my vacation would be paid for, but that was only done verbally. I was told that as soon as I become part-time, I won't accrue vacation anymore, but that I should be getting paid for what I already accrued as a full-time worker. I just want to make sure if it was illegal or not if they were to back out of that agreement. I would think that the accrued vacation SHOULD be paid for since I fairly earned it while working for them, and because I didn't ask to go part-time. But the law is the law, so I was just checking into that. Thanks for all of your answer so far.

The law on payout of vacation at termination has gone back and forth a lot lately.

ElleMD will know the latest latest, but the latest I know is that it does have to be paid out at termination (but not legally when you change status).

In case this was not clear, vacation law is very state specific. There literally is no federal vacation law at all, meaning whatever the states has to say is everything there is on the subject. Different states have very different rules on vacation.

What also might not be clear is that most 50-state sources on state specific payroll law do not get into much detail. The more specific the question, the harder it is to answer the question based on a 50 state chart. It is often difficult to get a fast answer on a detailed state law question, because it often involves someone going into a (paid) state specific law library to research the question. The 50 state charts are fast, and easy to use, but do have their limits.

It turns out that they should be paying me because I spoke to them again to verify it, and they did indeed say that they will be compensating me for the vacation time I accrued. Maybe it's supposed to be at the whim of the employer, but it looks like they're going to at least be fair in this case. Thanks again for all of your help. I just filed for unemployment today.

The law on payout of vacation at termination has gone back and forth a lot lately.

I believe this is the most recent/latest re the payout of vacation at termination. (We're talking termination here & not change in status though.)

http://www.dllr.state.md.us/labor/wagepay/wpunusedvacpay.htm

If it has changed, Elle will probably know. I believe I have seen a post by Elle earlier this year making ref. to above link.

LDElliott - good luck to you.

Yep, that is the latest. Basically, employers either need to treat it as wages or not, but if they do not communicate that the time will be lost, it must be paid. You do not have to be allowed to earn vacation time as a PTer (or a FT for that matter). It also does not need to be legally paid until you terminate employment.

You can apply for partial UI benefits based on the reduced hours.

You can apply for partial UI benefits based on the reduced hours.

Which I already have, thank you! :-) Here is another question. The CFO of the business came up to me to show me the separation letter that they received State of MD Dep't of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and he gave me a questioning look. I said, "Oh, yes." And he said, "But you're still with us." To which I said, "Yes, but I was forced to go part-time. It still counts." He stared at me a minute and then said, "Ok, I guess I'll be seeing you in court for unemployment", and he walked out. Now, my question is, although I feel that I have a very good case, would it be possible to find a lawyer who would be willing to do pro bono work to sit in on an appeal, and if so, where I would go to find one? I can't afford to pay an attorney, but I'm worried that this guy might be sitting there with HIS lawyer, pitting themselves against little ole' me. I've never done this before, so I don't know how ugly this thing can get.

Thanks again.

You're getting WAY ahead of yourself on this court thing. IF he appeals your unemployment (and he will NOT be using a lawyer to do that), then you, he, and an unemployment ALJ will sit in a small stuffy room on either side of a table and have a conversation. You are a VERY long way from an actual court with lawyers, if you ever get there at all which is unlikely.

That's good to know. I'd rather be wrong on that approach than to be right! He was just trying to be intimidating, and it made me worry there for a second.

You can hire a lawyer for the initial hearing but almost no one ever does. It just isn't necessary. It is as cbg stated, you, a rep from your employer and a hearing officer in a room. The hearing officer has set questions they will ask each side. Just be honest and stick to the facts.

Most likely you will be asked how many hours you used to work, how many you work presently, how long you expect the reduced hours to last and the reason for the change. Your employer will be asked the same. That is pretty much all the hearing officer is going to care about. Not your vacation. Not what the handbook says about who gets benefits. Answer the questions as asked because the hearing officers tend to have very little patience for those who go off on tangents or try to use the hearing as a chance to air their various gripes about employer in general.

Hello, it's me again. :-) I have another question about accrued vacation time that I earned while still full-time. I took a two-week vacation after I was made part-time; however, the vacation was scheduled before I knew I was going to be forced to go part-time. I had accrued 32 hours of vacation while working full-time. In the employee manual, they list two things that may pertain to this, but I'm not sure where directly I would fall into this. They are:

-In the case of termination due to resignation, retirement, or permanent reduction in the work force, your accrued vacation pay will be paid on a pro-rata basis.

-Unused personal time is not paid upon termination. In the case of termination, any vacation or personal/sick time used in excess of accrued time will be deducted from your final paycheck given your prior written permission.

Now, I was not terminated, but I would think that whatever applies here would apply more so to someone who is still working for them. This is used personal time, not unused, by this point. Is there anything here that implies that I should be paid my accrued vacation after being forced to go part-time?

Thanks!

The law regarding the payout of accrued vacation applies to separation from employment only, not a change in status.

So what I'm gathering is that even though there is nothing in the employee manual that states the employer does not have to pay out accrued vacation when an employee changes their status, and the employee has already taken the vacation (so we're not talking about unused vacation time), there is nothing that requires an employer to pay the accrued vacation until the employee leaves, is that correct? Then it would depend on what it says here in the employee manual.

I was verbally told that I would be paid for my used vacation time, but I am still waiting to see it, and they don't have my last pay stub to give to me for some reason. Even though I probably didn't get paid for whichever two-week period that was (I was scheduled zero hours three weeks ago, and then I took my two-week vacation), I would think that I should still get a pay stub.

That's correct. Some companies do, some companies don't. Most companies I've been with over my career, we would pay it out if a status change resulted in not being eligible for vacation accrual any longer. But that was our choice, no law made us do so.

If you were paid, state law requires that you be provided with a pay document.

Ok, that helps to explain it. Thank you.