Hours of Service Question

[jpod]

I have studied the hours-counting requirements of Reg. Section 2530.200b.

Scenario is this. Employee terminates employment. Immediately or thereafter he is paid for unused vacation. Does the payment for unused vacation pay give him additional hours of service for the computation period in which paid?

I am aware of the general rule that you count hours for services not performed "irrespective of whether the employment relationship" has terminated. However, there is also a rule against "double counting" of hours to the same period of time.

Based on these two rules, is this the answer: To the extent that the unpaid vacation represented hours earned in a prior computation period, the corresponding hours are not counted, but hours earned in the current computation period are counted.

If this is not the answer, the only other answer, I think, is that that you count all the hours, and the double counting prohibition really has no application. A third answer is that you don't count any of the hours, but that would seem to make the "irrespective of" language in the regulation completely meaningless.

Any takers?

[Guest Sieve]

jpod --

Your first potential answer is correct.

Paying someone for unused vacation time at termination of employment is not double-counting--assuming, of course, that the individual was not paid for the vacation hours at some other time. When the vacation hours were "earned", the hours no doubt were not counted--i.e., if I worked 2,080 hours in 2009 and took no vacation that year, but I nevertheless earned 80 hours during the year towards a vacation in 2010 (so, I earned 2 weeks of vacation in 2009 which I can carryover to 2010), then I do not get credit in 2009 for 2,160 hours of service (unless I was paid, during 2009, for the vacation time I earned but did not take). So, there is no double-counting when I get credit for the earned (but unused) vacation hours when I terminate employment in 2010 and am paid for those 80 hours of unsued vacation time. After all, I am to receive credit for hours for which I am paid or entitled to payment for the performance or non-performance of duties--and I did not get paid, nor was I entitled to payment, for those vacation hours until 2010.

By the way, I probably am not "entitled to payment" for those vacartion hours when they were earned (in 2009) because my employer may not allow me to collect vacation hours forever--so, I potentially could lose some or all of those vacation hours if I do not take them in a specified time period.

[jpod]

Not sure what you mean by "first potential answer." If I understand you correctly, you believe the answer is that all of hours for which unused vacation is paid upon termination of employment are counted as hours of service in the computation period paid.

[Guest Sieve]

Yes.