The Law

• Under federal law, employers are not required to offer vacation days to employees. However, employers are not prohibited from granting earned vacation time. Employers are legally allowed under federal law to create agreements with their employees in regards to earning or automatically obtaining vacation days.
  
  

No Pay for Play

• Federal law does not require employers to pay employees for vacation time.cash on hand image by Photoeyes from Fotolia.com
  
  An employer may grant vacation time to employees, but that does not mean that employees have any right to pay while on leave. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are not required by federal law to compensate their employees for vacation days.
  
  

Vacation Pay

• Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) introduced the Paid Vacation Act in 2009. If passed, this bill would make it a federal requirement for certain companies to offer paid vacation days to employees. Under the pending legislation, any company with more than 100 employees would be required to offer each of them one week of paid vacation. To qualify, the employee must work for the company for at least one year.