I've been reading various threads on vacation time, but have not found an answer to my current situation. My employer grants 10 days of vacation per year, and allows them to be taken Jan. 1 through Oct. 15, with 2-5 blackout times throughout the year. If you don't use them you lose them and do not get paid for them. It was suggested by upper management that managers take vacation time earlier to make sure they get their time, so I put in for a week to be taken in late Jan. only to have it denied, then for a week in late Feb. only to have it denied as well. In the past, vacation requests were fullfilled based on the notion that there would have to be sufficient coverage of the store, which there would have been. The first request was denied, indicating that it was during a "blackout" period, though I did not locate information in the companies Policy and Procedures manual indicating this, and the second time, siting that the company does not allow employees who are on any sort of probation be allowed vacation. The probation that I am on extends over a two month timeframe and is in reference to the store's overall performance (I manage the store), even though there are extenuating circumstances affecting sales performance and such. If I am dismissed anytime during the probationary period, according to the Policy and Procedure manual, I would only be paid for, at most, 3 days vacation time, when my request was for 5 days (one week).
My main question is, vacation is a right as an employee of the company (if part of their policies states this), not a priviledge? Can they do this? I am led to believe that I am being denied vacation because I am on a probation of sorts, and not for any other reason.

Since no company is required by law to provide paid vacations, the company can set the standards about when and how it is used. And Iowa is not one of the state that prohibit "use-it-or-lose-it" policies, nor does Iowa require accrued vacation be paid out at termination (only if the company policy provides for it and restrictions can be placed on the payout). So, what the company is doing does not violate any Iowa (or federal) law.