Question: Help! It's Christmas and my boss won't pay me my vacation time...?

So I have been working for the same guy for 4 years. He's a great guy, and pays me very well. I have never taken vacation time in the four years I have worked for him. I have taken time off, but always just covered it with my own money. He has never forced me to take vacation, but has never said no when I need time off.

I work in construction and we have shut down for the holidays. This happens every year, usually a week or two, but he has never paid me vacation time to cover it.

This year we shut down in the middle of november. I am now really strapped for cash and I haven't seen my wife and son in 6 months. They are on the other side of the country! I want to go there for christmas! I asked him for my vacation pay since I'm not working, and it's no choice of my own, and he said he can't pay me because he doesn't have the money. He said he hadn't planned for it so he doesn't have it.

I know this is very wrong on his part, but he is the only person I have worked for in the last 4 years and if i file a claim with the labour board I know it will jeopradize me being able to use him as a reference for a new job. I do plan on moving back east soon anyway, and since I don't know anyone there, I know that having a good reference will be important for me finding work.

any advice folks?

The wierd part is that he has always been very nice and very generous to me, but now he is backing out of his legal obligation.

Answer:

There may not be guaranteed vacation where you are (certainly not in the US), but you are likely eligible for unemployment benefits. You may even be eligible for benefits from previous years.

Look to the future, too, and see what kind of training you can take to get a skilled job that will pay you for vacation, sick days, etc.

Good luck!

PS - You may want to check with some charitable organizations. They may be able to help you get back to your family for the holidays.

here is no law that says you get a vacation so calling the labor board wont help especially if you have never gotten one in 4 years

then say you are in the UK, I didn't realize that anyone knew what the word vacation was it always Holiday

If he has never paid you vacation time before, why do you expect it now? It sounds like you are "unemployed" for the time being. Others I know who work in construction just file for unemployment when work is down during winter. Don't piss the guy off. You are right you will need a reference for the future.