Legal Question in Employment Law in California

In April of 09, my employment status went from full-time to part-time. I had accrued almost 30 hours worth of Paid Time Off (PTO). I received a letter in the mail from the company I still work for ( I am full-time again at this time)in February of 09 stating that due to my status change, some of my benefits would be affected. It didn't state anything about PTO being one of those affected. Even when calling HR, PTO is not listed with benefits, it is listed with payroll. As soon as I found this out, I contacted my manager who stated that while my benefits would change if I was enrolled in anything, my PTO would be fine. Around April , I noticed my PTO hours just magically disappear from my pay checks, which immediately alarmed me. I notified my manager who then said she would bring it up to my regional manager, only to never hear about it again. I transferred regions (but not states, I have always been employed in CA) in August of 09.
When I became full-time once again in January of this year, I asked my current manager what happened to those hours. He too, like my previous manager was surprised to find out I never received a payout (customary with employees who no longer work with the company who had PTO hours at the time of their leave/termination) but hoped that I would either get those hours back on my PTO, which wouldn't even start showing on my checks until 90 days after I had been full-time. I called my HR department yesterday (05/03/10) to find out when those hours would start to appear or whether I would even receive a payout. He informed me that PTO payouts for 09 had been performed in July, but California PTO laws were rather delicate and that he would ask a supervisor to contact me at a later time since he could not give me appropriate answers without knowing the law in California. She contacted me and in lamest terms, said that while I had accrued that PTO, I couldn't receive the cash out because at the time of July 09 I was no longer full-time, and that now that I am full-time the hours still magically disappear as if they were never there in the first place.
This doesn't seem to make any sense,especially since I mentioned before, terminated individuals can take advantage of the pay out, but I somehow can't. This is coming from a very large corporation.

Asked on 5/04/10, 12:05 pm

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If you have unpaid compensation or benefits you can't resolve on your own, you can file a claim with the Labor Commissioner.

Answered on 5/10/10, 10:19 am

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