PTO (paid time off) Question

[WillysWagon]

Hey Guys,
Don't know if someone has run into this or knows an answer to a question.

If an employer has a PTO policy (vacation or sick paid time off), what's Colorado's Labor law for payment upon termination?
The law is clear when a company uses the term 'vacation', but I can't find specifics on PTO.

If someone has 11 days PTO, would the company be legally obligated to pay it out upon termination?

Thanks for the input,
Kyle

[mb504]

https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/Pages/Colorado-Forfeiture-of-Vacation-Time.aspx


Even under the division’s new interpretation, employers can retain PTO use-it-or-lose-it policies and non-payment-on-discharge policies, provided they are drafted properly to exclude reference to vacation time.

So... it depends what the company's policy says and how carefully it is worded.

[wyome]

Where I work you would be paid out for unused PTO you've earned.

Unused company holidays would not be paid out

[RblDiver]

I think where I work it'd be lost, not positive but something like that. (But they'd be pretty good about letting you use it liberally before your actual quitting).

[longrange2]

My company pays out only the PTO you have earned to that point in the year.

[feal]

The 11 pto days have already been accrued or is set at 11 per year? If you’ve already earned them the should be paid out, otherwise it would probably be prorated

[ray1970]

Pretty much what everyone else has said. Probably varies company to company. I would only get paid for whatever I had accrued up until the part where the company and I parted ways. I'd probably wait until the end of December to quit and try to milk them for my full seven weeks. We did have an employee who was terminated recently and was a bit surprised when he pretty much didn't get a final paycheck because he had used more time off than he had accrued up to that point.

[ben4372]

Talk to your HR. Sometimes the policy is different depending on hire date.

[WillysWagon]

Thanks for the input all !!
Time to look over the companies PPM to say what's listed as far as verbiage for PTO.

[brutal]

EARNED PTO requires payout in Colorado.

What Feal posted is where the distinction is.

That's MY interpretation of the law. YMMV.

[cfortune]

EARNED PTO requires payout in Colorado.

What Feal posted is where the distinction is.

That's MY interpretation of the law. YMMV.

Yeah, I'm not an expert but I was under the impression that accrued PTO or vacation time are considered wages earned here in Colorado and are owed to the employee upon termination.

[CS1983]

When our last contract ended, I received earned PTO as a payout. My company did not lump holidays etc. as some companies do. For the folks whose companies lump everything together and pre-give those hours, they ended up having to use or lose. I used a good portion and then was paid on the remainder I didn't use.

[WillysWagon]

Great info here guys !!

I'm asking this info for my wife, whose coworkers are in HR and are telling her people in this state won't be paid PTO upon termination.
The company is downsizing at the moment and that didn't seem correct, so I'm investigating for her.


Here's a cut-n-paste from the PPM:
' XYZ Company' provides Paid Time Off (PTO) for eligible employees to use for vacation, illness or injury, and personal business.
Once you enter an eligible employment classification, you begin to earn PTO according to the schedule.
Once employment with 'XYZ Company' is terminated, you forfeit all unused PTO, as applicable by local, state, and federal law.


So it states PTO is an earned benefit, but also states it's forfeited upon termination, as applicable by local, state, and federal law.

Colorado law states unused PTO is paid out if I read the info correctly.
So sounds like the info she's getting from HR is false and the company is trying to duck out on paying it's employees PTO if they lay them off.

[sroz]

They reference earning PTO according to the schedule. Sounds like you earn a certain amount of hour per pay period. As far as I understand they have to pay you for what you have on the books.