Question: I worked for a couple of years as an hourly office worker with a small company, where we were given two weeks of paid vacation annually. I recently was fired from the job, after getting into an argument with the boss.
I had worked three days during the week I was fired, but the boss refused to pay me for them. She said because I had taken a week’s paid vacation in July, she didn’t have to pay me for my last three days. She even mentioned I “owed” her two days of work, though she didn’t ask for the money.
She must figure that, if all the hours I’ve worked this year are added up, she can show I have been paid for all of them. But I think I’m owed for my last three days, which amounts to more than $400.
Who is right?
Answer: You are. While employers don’t have to offer paid vacations, yours did, so by practice if not written policy, you had earned the vacation you took back in July, said Bill Katsafanas, a labor-and-employer lawyer with Akerman Senterfitt in Orlando.
Your employer was free to end the paid vacation policy any time she wanted, but not after the fact, Katsafanas said. That’s in essence what she did by claiming she didn’t have to pay you for the last three days you worked.
Both federal and state laws require that workers be paid for the hours they work. The simplest way to get the money you are owed is to tell your former employer that you are legally entitled to the last three days of pay and if you don’t get it, you will sue her in state court for unpaid wages.
If she refuses and you win in court, she will wind up having to pay your unpaid wages plus interest, as well as your court costs and attorney fees.
On the road again
Roughly 3 out of 5 surveyed workers say they have experienced road rage during their daily commutes, with 1 in 10 saying it happens most or all of the time.
And while the longer the commute, the more likely the chances of road rage, 30 percent of workers who live within a five-minute drive of work said they have experienced road rage while driving to or from their job.
The survey of more than 2,200 workers was conducted in June by CareerBuilder.com.
“One in five workers say they would take a job with a pay cut in exchange for a shorter distance between their home and their workplace,” said Rosemary Haefner of CareerBuilder.com. “While a new job may be the answer for some, the key to a manageable commute is planning ahead and finding a way to relax.”
iPod, youPod
Roughly a third of U.S. workers listen to music through personal devices such as iPods and MP3 players while on the job, with most claiming it improves their productivity as well as their job satisfaction.
That’s the finding from a Spherion Workplace Snapshot survey of more than 1,600 U.S. workers conducted this summer by Harris Interactive.
Listening to music through portable players at work varied considerably with age. Among workers 25-29, 48 percent said they listened at least part of the time on the job, while only 22 percent of workers older than 50 made the same claim.
