Is Unused Vacation Time Considered Wages Under the Massachusetts Wage Act?

Accrued Vacation Time as Wages

If your employer offers paid vacation, once you accrue that time it is considered an earned wage under the Massachusetts Wage Act. The employer is not obligated to pay you for the time when you accrue it, but if you do not use it up they are required to pay the balance when your employment ends, whether you are terminated or you resign voluntarily. This is true even if you are terminated for cause.

Other forms of paid time off, like sick time or personal days, are not required to be paid at termination.

If your employer has an "unlimited vacation" policy, they may or may not be required to pay some vacation time at termination. In some jurisdictions, courts have required a payout of some reasonable amount of vacation time, but it remains to be seen what Massachusetts courts will do with this issue.

Learn more here about earned vacation time in Massachusetts.