[Nancyyac]

Recently, our president saw a list of all employees with their earned sick and vacation time compiled on one spreadsheet. At the bottom of the page were total sick hours and vacation time. He was aghast to see the total sick and vacation hours he would be paying out if everybody used all of their sick and vacation time over the next 12 months.

So, he changed the policy to: "unused sick and vacation time will be forfeited January 1 of every year except for special circumstances" (which only applies to new employees). I was instructed to go back and subtract all vacation and sick time that had been carried forward.

My question is can he take away accrued sick and vacation time earned up to the day he changed the policy? Or should he announce the change stating that going forward unused sick and vacation hours will be forfeited if not used within the fiscal year and allow employees to keep their earned benefits?

[Robin Holtson]

Hi Nancy,
Do you have a corp. attorney on staff or one available? I would recommend discussing this with someone who specializes in employment law specific to NY. You can also find information on the state of NY DOL web site.

I can't imagine he can change the policy without notifying the employees.