I’ve received several unhappy (and incredulous) comments and emails in response to my July 9th post, “How Small Businesses Handle Employee Holidays.� “What do you mean an employer doesn’t have to give vacation time? And that they can set ‘blackout dates’ for taking vacation? Isn’t that illegal? Isn’t that discrimination? Isn’t that . . . just . . . wrong????�
Generally, no . . . no . . . and, yes. As I mentioned previously, non-union small business employers in the United States are generally not obligated by law to give any paid vacation time. Just check out the New York Times Sunday Magazine – it had a very telling chart embedded in last Sunday’s article, “Vacation, All I Never Wanted,� about legal required paid annual leave around the word (
If employers do give vacation time, they cannot discriminate on the basis of race, sex, national origin, or other protected classification as to who receives it and how much they receive. As long as the employer states the policy up front and is consistent in its implementation, the employer has the right to set the vacation policy. This applies to blackout dates, too. Of course, if your employer is changing policies mid-stream, or is depriving you of previously-approved holiday time, then you may have different situation on your hands than simply working for a miser.Â
If it’s any consolation, my first law firm employer would only give me one week’s vacation once I had worked there for at least eight months. And you should have heard the fuss he raised when, in my seventh month of employment, I asked for a single day off . . . to attend my attorney swearing-in ceremonies!!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Employees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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