Quote:
Originally Posted by TorqueDog
Vacation, too. As a Canadian working for a US company on a US-based team with a US-based direct manager, my manager was completely dumbfounded at the Canadian HR policy limiting the amount of vacation that I could carry over and that I could get forced to take vacation if I didn't use the amount necessary to meet that threshold before a certain date. In Alberta, if the employer doesn't force you to take it, you lose it... you can then take them to the labour board over it, but it seems completely idiotic.
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I think the big difference in the Canadian system compared to the US is that in the States employers are not required to allow you to take your vacations the same way they are in Canada.
If the American system required employers to allow their employees to use any accrued vacation pay you could end up with a scenario where an employee could bank enough time to take a year off and that would most likely create a hardship for the employer. That’s the most likely reason why it’s different here.
The part you wrote about losing your vacation pay if your employer doesn’t force you to use it is a little misleading. They are required by law to pay you your vacation pay. While it’s possible(and I don’t doubt that it happens) for an employer to try and not pay an employee their vacation pay it’s no different than if said employer were to refuse to pay you your overtime correctly, you would have to go to employment standards to fight them. A similar process would apply in the United States.