Human Resource Blog

Michigan Vacation

	Attendance Management
Vacation Request / Response Form Weekly Time Sheets Attendance Calendar for 2008, 2009, or 2010 Annual Attendance Tracker Vacation Request Form for 2008, 2009, 2010 (Calendar) Detailed Absence Report

	Benefits
Total Compensation Summary Performance Improvement Plan Performance Appraisal and Review Employee Payroll Status/Change Form Employee Change Form

	Compensation
Employee Payroll Action Form W-4 Employee Withholding Allowance Cert. Employee Payroll Status/Change Form Direct Deposit Form Total Compensation Summary

The company I work for told me that I get vacation pay. A year later I was told that thay can’t pay me because of hard times. Thay have paid others. What can I do?

Under the Michigan Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Law, employees may be entitled to vacation pay that has been promised by the employer, if that policy is in writing.

In some cases, when a company declares bankruptcy, they may not be required to pay benefits to workers. In a few cases, the employees may even lose wages. However, “we can’t afford to pay you” is very different from declaring bankruptcy.

The Michigan Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act requires that an employee be paid on a regular basis. That regular basis can be weekly, bi-weekly, bi-monthly or monthly.

The same law requires that employees be paid for fringe benefits earned according to a written contract or written policy. This includes payment for holidays, time off for illness or injury (sick pay), paid personal leave and vacation pay. The law also covers bonuses or authorized expenses incurred during employment, when there is a written policy in place.

Often, the employee handbook contains such written policies.

Here’s a great DLEG brochure on this law.

The Wage and Hour Division of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, DLEG, enforces this law. Their main number is 517-335-0400.

If the employer’s vacation policy is not in writing, then DLEG may not be able to assist you. However, since the employer has paid vacation time to other workers in the past, this employee may have a valid discrimination claim. That’s assuming that at least one of the employees who was paid vacation time was of a different race, color, religion, national ancestry or sex. If the employee is over 40, and workers who were paid vacation time are under 40, that could be a valid discrimination claim. The

U.S. EEOC – the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – enforces the laws against discrimination at the federal level.