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Employee Death Not Work Related
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Employee Death Not Work Related
Discuss employment-law issues such as family leave, overtime, disabilities law, harassment, immigration and termination.
I have a NJ employee that just passed away. We've handled all of the benefits (COBRA,life, AD&D etc.) but 'by law' do we have to pay out unused vacation time to the family? If yes please direct me
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Employee Death Not Work Related

posted at 8/11/1999 10:28 PM EDT
Posts: 1
First: 8/11/1999
Last: 8/11/1999
I have a NJ employee that just passed away. We've handled all of the benefits (COBRA,life, AD&D etc.) but 'by law' do we have to pay out unused vacation time to the family? If yes please direct me to a resource for that law so that I can amend my policy.
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Employee Death Not Work Related

posted at 8/12/1999 3:59 PM EDT
Posts: 30
First: 8/12/1999
Last: 2/4/2000
This should be addressed in the Labor Code of your state. I assume it's called by that name, as it is in California.

Here, earned vacation is considered wages and has to be paid out.
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Employee Death Not Work Related

posted at 8/15/1999 7:55 PM EDT
Posts: 2217
First: 6/16/1999
Last: 12/13/2001
Usually, whether an employer must pay out accrued and used vacation time depends on both state law and your policy. In many states, an employer must pay out all accrued vacation time on termination of employment. In some, an employer need not pay out the time if it has a written policy, distributed to all employees, applied prospectively only, specifying the circumstances under which the vacation will not be paid out.

Putting on my HR hat for a moment, I would suspect that the employee's dependents could probably use the money right about now. It the vacation is not especially burdensome on the employer, it might be a great time to pay it out and get the "warm and fuzzy" kick. On the other hand, you might want to keep in mind that the vacation pay belongs to the employee and his or her estate. If "he" left everything to his girlfriend, not his wife, the money might belong to the girlfriend.
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