Purpose

• Employers are not required by law to offer vacation days, paid or not.verifying boss image by Sergii Shalimov from Fotolia.com
  
  The purpose of California vacation laws is to ensure that employees receive the vacation days and paid days off they have earned while working a specific job. However, under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) employers are not required by law to offer vacation days. Employers who do offer vacation days must follow the rules and regulations provided by California law. Sick days do not count as vacation days, although employees have the right to use vacation days for any reason. In short, employees do not have to actually go on vacation to use vacation days.
  
  

Limitations

• Employees may have to take vacation days before earning more.vacation! image by Rido from Fotolia.com
  
  Employers in California have the right to implement certain rules and regulations concerning vacation days. Outside of not offering them at all, employers can also dictate when an employee becomes eligible for vacation days. For example, an employee may have to work a certain amount of time before she can earn vacation days. In some cases, an employee may need to actually take some of the vacation days she has earned before she can earn more.
  
  

Termination

• Employees who qualify for vacation days, or paid days off, are still entitled to them even if they are fired under California Labor Code Section 227.3. Employers, unless otherwise stipulated in a contract, must compensate for all vacation days the employee earned in the form of a wage. In other words, the employee shall receive his normal pay for every vacation day he wasn't able to use. If any dispute arises between employer and employee over vacation days owed, the California Labor Commissioner shall have final ruling.
  
  

Use It Or Lose It

• Under California law, employers who offer vacation days cannot implement "use it or lose it" policies. For example, if an employee earns vacation days during a stretch of time, his employer cannot give him a deadline to use those days off. He has the right to use them when he wishes without fear of having them expire or be taken away, unless a contract between employee and employer stipulates otherwise.
  
  

Employer Penalties

• California law states that an employer must pay all wages due for vacation days not used by an employee on the day she is terminated. Employees who are not paid in full on their last day are entitled to "waiting day" penalties. In short, employers must pay the employee the equivalent of a day's pay for every day they do not pay the owed wages in full for up to 30 days, including holidays and weekends.