Can an employer change its vacation policy without notifying the employees?

Question

My employer recently changed its vacation policy to allow employees to carry over one week of vacation instead of two. I ended up losing a week of carry over vacation because I was not aware of the new policy. Can they legally do this?

Answer 1

Yes, employers can do this however; if you were to apply for unemployment and there was no documentation that you signed saying you understood the policy; then this type (notice I said type, not this INCIDENT) of lack of communication would certainly have a negative impact on your company's case. To protect themselves, it's always MANDATORY for a company to get employee signatures attesting to the fact that they understand policies and/or changes to said. If I didn't do that in my job, I'd be in alot of trouble.

Legally, your company can do this but if this type of behavior continues and you attempted to resolve it through documented communication and working your way up through the chain of command, eventually you could sue although it wouldn't be worth the time, money and effort.

Answer 2

although steve p is obviously in the states in the UK an employer cannot change its vacation policy without the correct notice being issued. this is classed as a change in the employment contract of the employee for which the employer has to give 90 days notice of his intention to alter it in any way. the employee also has the right to appeal against any decision his employer has made in respect of his contract of employment.

Answer 3

I believe, unless otherwise stated in your handbook, you should have received notice by way of Inter office memo or email. Check with your HR department to see if this was provided.

Answer 4

Yes they can.

Answer 5

Yes, they can.