When you’re starting to drown between employee concerns, payroll duties and helping your CEO -- HR Insider is there to help get the logistical work out of the way.
Need a policy because of a recent regulatory change? We’ve got it for you. Need some quick training on a specific HR topic? We’ve got it for you. HR Insider provides the resources you need to craft, implement and monitor policies with confidence. Our team of experts (which includes lawyers, analysts and HR professionals) keep track of complex legislation, pending changes, new interpretations and evolving case law to provide you with the policies and procedures to keep you ahead of problems. FIND OUT MORE...
We are a small non unionized employer in BC. Several years ago we changed our sick leave policy so that employees could no accumulate paid sick leave days without end to no rollover to the new fiscal year. In addition, we eliminated the pay out of sick leave credits when the employee leaves. When we did this we grand-parented in any existing employees. We are now at the point were one employee has changed jobs within the company to a much higher salary rate and they have at least 5 months of paid sick leave on the books. If they leave we are paying out a lot if it has to be at the current salary. This liability is growing and we would like to pay it out and end the increasing liability. Can we do this? What do we need to do to do it? Should be just bit the bullet and do it for all of the employees who are still grand parented? Or can we simple figure out the salary the employee was earning at the time the sick leave was accumulated and pay out at that rate?
Ask the ExpertWe are a small non unionized employer in BC. Several years ago we changed our sick leave policy so that employees could no accumulate paid sick leave days without end to no rollover to the new fiscal year. In addition, we eliminated the pay out of sick leave credits when the employee leaves. When we did this we grand-parented in any existing employees. We are now at the point were one employee has changed jobs within the company to a much higher salary rate and they have at least 5 months of paid sick leave on the books. If they leave we are paying out a lot if it has to be at the current salary. This liability is growing and we would like to pay it out and end the increasing liability. Can we do this? What do we need to do to do it? Should be just bit the bullet and do it for all of the employees who are still grand parented? Or can we simple figure out the salary the employee was earning at the time the sick leave was accumulated and pay out at that rate?
hri_Admin asked 5 years ago
Question Tags:
2 Answers
Glenn Demby answered 5 years ago
I've asked our payroll consultant, Alan McEwen, to weigh in on this one. Will get back to you as soon as I hear from him.
Glenn Demby answered 5 years ago
Here's Alan's response. Feel free to follow up. Glenn: The answer depends on what these people’s contracts of employment were at the time of hire and when the person changed jobs. For example, if the offer letter incorporated the company policies by reference and stated the employer had the unilateral right to change these, then the employer would probably be able to limit its liability in the way expected. This isn’t so much an employment standards issue as one of contract law, so without more details it’s little hard to give a more precise answer