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Vacation time

Many employees are provided time off to take vacation. The length and timing of an employee's vacation time is usually decided by the employer.

Paid vacation time

There is no federal law that requires your employer to give you vacation time - paid or unpaid. However, if your employer does agree to give vacation, there are some restrictions your employer can place on your vacation time.

Timing of vacations

Generally, your employer can decide when you can take your vacation. For example, if you work for a department store, you might not be allowed to take vacation during a busy holiday season.

Also, if your employer's vacation policy says that all vacation time must be approved in advance, that's probably legal.

Limits on accumulated vacation time

Your employer probably can put "reasonable" limits on how much vacation time you build up. In fact, some employers put a "cap" on the amount of vacation time employees can build up, so that there aren't too many people trying to take long vacations all at one time.

"Use it or lose it"

Some states have specific laws that say employers cannot have a "use it or lose it" vacation time policy. That's because those states think of vacation time as just like wages: once you earn the time, the employer can't take it away. If you live in one of those states, once you have earned your vacation time, you cannot lose it just because you don't have time to take it or your employer won't let you take it. Call the state agency that deals with wage and hour problems to see if you live in a state that has a law prohibiting "use it or lose it" policies.

In some states, if you quit or get fired, you should be paid for any vacation time that you didn't use. Call your state agency that deals with wage and hour problems to see if you have the right to be paid for your vacation time when you leave your job.