An employee who has been with the company for nearly 5 years has just given her notice.  Our policy is that PTO has no "cash value" therefore the employee cannot be paid for unused PTO time. 

She is now claiming that she never received an employee manual and was unaware of this policy.  I have checked her file and there is no signed receipt so chances are this is true.

Are we then obligated to pay her for PTO time?

What state are you in?

How large is your company?

What are the other ways in which your policy on PTO has been coomunicated?

What other PTO interactions have you had with this EE?  Has she ever asked to cash our her vacation time, for instance?

State: Oklahoma

Co Size: 18 

PTO policies have been communicated through memos and conversations but I do not think that the PTO having "no cash value" has been discussed at those times.  It usually has to do with:

• when to request time
• who to request time
• how should you request time.

jclan:

State: Oklahoma

Co Size: 18 

PTO policies have been communicated through memos and conversations but I do not think that the PTO having "no cash value" has been discussed at those times.  It usually has to do with:

• when to request time
• who to request time
• how should you request time.

I have had her question her time in the past but never has she asked for cash versus taking time.

Title 40 of the state statutes covers labor.

Section 40-165.1 is definitions, and number 4 is "wages"

4.  "Wages" means compensation owed by an employer to an employee for labor or services rendered, including salaries, commissions, holiday and vacation pay, overtime pay, severance or dismissal pay, bonuses and other similar advantages agreed upon between the employer and the employee, which are earned and due, or provided by the employer to his employees in an established policy, whether the amount is determined on a time, task, piece, commission or other basis of calculation;

It "sounds" to me like vacation is included in "compesation owed" if it is "earned and due".  With this information, I would call whoever checks payroll law in your state and ask them if it is required to pay accrued vacation upon termination as "wages" under the labor code.  In many other states, vacation is defined.  Someone who has had a state-specific HR legal update should be able to tell you about the 10th circuit and state law on the issue as well.