Vacation and sick time

**jas** · 07-31-2008, 09:18 AM

My husband may be leaving the job he has had for the last 17 years to go to another one. My question is this. He has a ton of unused vacation and sick time. Will he automatically lose it all? Does his employer own it to him since he did earn it and could have used it. It is not like he didn't want to use the vacay time just sometimes it was too busy at work for him to take it. A few times the boss paid him for a week vacay but he still worked.

My husband has very rarely taken a sick day either so he has alot of them also.

We are certainly not counting on him being paid for all of this but it would sure be nice if he were.

Also a question about health care. What are the rules options concerning healthcare coverage other than COBRA which is insanly expensive? Is the only option getting private coverage till the new jobs kicks in.

thanks in advance for any info

**GM97** · 07-31-2008, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by jas

My husband may be leaving the job he has had for the last 17 years to go to another one. My question is this. He has a ton of unused vacation and sick time. Will he automatically lose it all? Does his employer own it to him since he did earn it and could have used it. It is not like he didn't want to use the vacay time just sometimes it was too busy at work for him to take it. A few times the boss paid him for a week vacay but he still worked.

My husband has very rarely taken a sick day either so he has alot of them also.

We are certainly not counting on him being paid for all of this but it would sure be nice if he were.

Also a question about health care. What are the rules options concerning healthcare coverage other than COBRA which is insanly expensive? Is the only option getting private coverage till the new jobs kicks in.

thanks in advance for any info

Legally, they have to pay his vacation time. I am not sure about sick time. Where I work, sick time are not paid if you leave the job. Employees call out for numerous reasons if they know they will be leaving work so that they will not lose their sick time. Tell you husband to ask new employer when insurance kicks in, he may get it after 90 days or the beginning of the next month.

**jas** · 07-31-2008, 09:53 AM

Thanks! For the sick time he will most likely not have time to use any of it, there may not be that much time. If that is true for the vacay that would be wonderful!

**MerMcE** · 07-31-2008, 10:02 AM

Whoops - careful here. There generally is no "law" about unused vacation and personal time. Each company can have a different policy about that. Have your husband consult his Employee Handbook or contact H.R.

I'm an HR Manager for my company and we are not required to payout unused vacation time. But, of course we DO because it is a good policy, etc. Our rule is, if the employee gives 2 weeks notice and is in good standing, we will pay out up to 10 days of vacation.

On the insurance, have him find out when he's effective on the new employer's insurance. Once you know that you'll be able to consider whether or not Cobra is worth it. If it's too expensive, yes, getting a quick personal policy for a few months (that would just cover major things) would be a good alternative.

Note: All states have different laws regarding employment, so Florida may have some laws I don't know about. Definitely have him check with HR.

**Izzy0906** · 07-31-2008, 10:03 AM

I don't know about healthcare. I do know when I left my last 2 companies, I recieved pay for all earned vacation time that was unused but NOT for sick time.

**Greebo** · 07-31-2008, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by GM97

Legally, they have to pay his vacation time. I am not sure about sick time. Where I work, sick time are not paid if you leave the job. Employees call out for numerous reasons if they know they will be leaving work so that they will not lose their sick time. Tell you husband to ask new employer when insurance kicks in, he may get it after 90 days or the beginning of the next month.

I think the law about this may vary by state, and there might be caps on how much the employer must repay. Not 100% certain though - could you provide any sources for this info?

**jas** · 07-31-2008, 10:15 AM

Thank you. He would love to talk to HR, the thing is he does not want to tip them off just yet. The postion at the new job is not final. We are hoping within a weeks time we will know for sure.

It has been a year in the making for this postition to open and he has been the person they want but, it had to be posted and they have to applications for a certain amount of days ect...

The employee handbook was written in 1978 and has not been updated. Ten days paid vacay would be better than no days.

Once he does know he will for sure give two week notice and not just skip out. (he has been there 17 years and they may want him to do some freelance work if that is acceptable with the new company)

**jas** · 07-31-2008, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by Greebo

I think the law about this may vary by state, and there might be caps on how much the employer must repay. Not 100% certain though - could you provide any sources for this info?

Thanks. I will poke around on line to see if I can find out what Florida law says.

**nancycg56** · 07-31-2008, 10:49 AM

My DH works on a contract and he's worked for a couple of different companies and each time his contract was up and he moved on to another company, he was paid for all vacation days he had accumulated at the time.

This past April he was out of work for a month while they renegotiated his contract and they paid him for the whole time so he wouldn't leave and go to another company. They didn't take any of his vacation days away like he thought they would.

All in all, I think it depends on the company policy. If they have a website you may be able to find the info on there without actually having to ask anyone.

**dcompton** · 07-31-2008, 02:16 PM

Interesting. I had a friend who just left where I work, and she was paid for sick time but not vacation.

**jas** · 07-31-2008, 02:22 PM

Some of either would be nice. He has quite a bit of each. It would be rotten if he lost both. It is a small company so we shall see.

**spyzvixxen** · 07-31-2008, 03:56 PM

He should reference his employee handbook if he has one. If he is leaving on good terms, they may be more generous. Some companies only pay out up to 1 week of unused vacation time & sick/personal time is usually "use it or lose it". As the other posters have said, he should check with HR and state laws.