Hello,
Can you tell me if it is legal under PA Labor Laws for an employer to force
you to use your vacation ?
Here's the situation --- When I was first hired by my company, many of
the employees were forced to take one week of vacation at the end of the
year and another within the first quarter of the next. Of course, this upset
many employees that only get 2 weeks per year. And this policy did not
impact all divisions of the company. Luckily, I was exempt because I was a
new hire. However, the next year, they started a "voluntary" program where
everyone must use their vacation as they accrue it. As soon as you get 40
hours, you have to schedule time off. This despite the fact that the
employee manual still states that you may accrue vacation up to a max of
1.5 times your yearly accrual rate.
Are either of these practices legal under PA law ?

Also, where can find information about PA labor law ? Is it available online ?

Thanks ahead for your responses,
Z.

Are either of these practices legal under PA law ? Both are legal. Your employer doesn't have to provide anyone with paid vacation at all and if they do, then they (your employer) gets to determine the terms and conditions of use. If they want to require all employees to schedule a week off work as soon as they have accrued 40 hours of vacation, they may.

I'll grant you this is an unusual policy but it's perfectly legal.

Here's PA's DOL web site: http://www.dli.state.pa.us/

If you're looking for something in the law that says your employer is allowed to do this, you won't find it. Employment laws say what an employer is prohibited from doing, not what they're allowed to do.