Human Resource Blog

Annual time hours not rolling over

	Attendance Management
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We are allowed to carry over 96 hours of annual leave at the end of each year, however if you have accrued more than 96 hours and do not use it…you lose it. Can the employer do this? Also, can the employer have stipulations on when you can use the time.

The short answer here is yes, in most states both of these are perfectly legal.

Actually, the employee in this question is very, very fortunate. In most US companies, employees are not allowed to carry over any vacation time. They may get 80 hours of vacation per year, and if they don’t use it by their anniversary date, they lose it.

So being allowed to carry over 96 hours is generous.

Employers may also set limits on when an employee can use vacation time. For many retailers, their busiest season is from Thanksgiving until Christmas. No employee is permitted to take vacation during that period, because they need all hands on deck. For many years, the Post Office did not allow any employees to take vacation time in December, for the same reason.

Most companies have a system where a worker fills out a vacation request and it is approved in advance. This ensures that not everyone will take their vacation the same week. Some employers also limit the amount of vacation an employee can take at one time. The employee may have 4 weeks of vacation total, but may only be allowed to use a maximum of 2 weeks at one time.

In a very few states (notably California) the employer would have to pay the worker for this time.

For a more specific answer, post a question or comment mentioning your state.