Labor Laws??

Darin had accrued 3 days PTO at the job he just quit but when I checked his paystub it wasn't showing on it. I asked the boss/wife/lady to let me know what would happen with it and this was her reply (via e-mail):

"I wished you would have notified me in September about Darin's vacation not being on the paystub. ESG was supposed to have that effective then. Oh well. It doesn't much matter now. Cashing out the extra vacation is only legally obligated to those who get fired. I'll double check, but with Darin not even giving two weeks notice and leaving us in a bind, it will only be allocated if it is legally owed to him, sorry. I would have no problem giving it had he given two weeks. Monday's will be on though. Also, final checks are usually physical checks instead of direct deposit."

Lol! Now I'm not really familiar with the actual legalities but it is my understanding that the PTO that is accrued is owed regardless of who terminates employment or the circumstances surrounding the termination. (At least in the State of Utah.) So... now that I have this great e-mail... I can go to the Labor/Wage people with proof that she acknowledges it! Some people are not so bright! I wrote her back a very kind e-mail! I am proud of all the things I typed... but then deleted because it wouldn't do any good! Why do harm right?


NEW STUFF!!!! So after she sent that e-mail she sent me this:

"Trent did think Darin was avoiding him--especially since there was no communication from Darin as to a thank you or good luck at the end of the day. Had that happen, maybe Trent would feel differently about cashing out the vacation days. I did double check with ESG, and I was right. The employer has the right to either cash out or not cash out vacation when an employee quits. Each company is different."

So I called the payroll company myself (because it's Veterans Day and the Labor Commission is closed) and their exact words were, "Uhh... we don't really know what the legalities are. We just do whatever TJ Electric tells us to." Than she said she needed to call TJ Electric and would call me back, but hasn't managed to dial my number yet!

I guess it's not really worth getting too stressed over... but it does reiterate why Darin needed to get out of there. He was dealing with this kind of childish selfishness every hour of every day... no wonder he was stressed!