Kentucky Law & Vacation

dchr9203

Posted over in wage & hour too, does anyone know what Kentukcy law says about paying accrued vacation benefits when you terminate employment either with or without notice.

JILL M

Kentucky law doesn't 'require' any employer to have paid vacations. That is up to the individual employer. But having said that, since your company apparently does have a policy and this employee has earned the vacation, they should receive it. Your vacation policy should address this situation in writing so all employees are aware of what may happen if they are terminated.

Per the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's book "An Employer's Guide to Kentucky Wage and Hour Issues":

When creating a vacation pay program, you are free to establish whatever non-discriminatory conditions you believe appropriate with respect to accumulation of paid vacation time. However, if you do offer paid vacation time, unless your vacation policy clearly states the contrary, your employees will accrue vacation pay as their work is performed. In other words, if you offer two weeks of vacation per year, an emplyee is entitled to one week of paid vacation after he or she works for six months. An employee must be paid for his or her unused but accrued vacation time upon separation from employment. If you do not want vacation pay to accrue until the completion of an employment year, you must formulate a clear, written vacation pay policy and ensure that all affected employees receive a copy.