Can employers pick and choose who they pay out accrued vacation time?
Washington courts view vacation time as a right to continue to receive salary or wages even though absent from work for a period of time. It is not typically a right to work full time, receive wages for that work, and also receive additional pay in lieu of actually taking vacation (which could be paid out upon termination). That type of arrangement is viewed as a right to receive extra compensation, which is only obtainable contractually through an employment contract. In order to establish that you had the right to receive the overtime pay, therefore, you must establish that there was an express or implied contract of employment that provides for extra compensation in the form of payout of accrued vacation time. If you don’t have an express employment contract you would have to establish the terms of employment as an implied contract. The fact that someone else was paid accrued vacation time may help, but in the absence of other information it is impossible to here state whether you h
