u/No-Membership-982

Location: New York City

Hi! So here’s the situation. I quit my job and gave them a month’s advanced notice (told them on April 23rd), I searched the company resources high and low for information on whether or not I’d be paid out for my remaining unused PTO. I could not find any information, so I asked some former employees who said that they had been paid out for their remaining time.

Fast forward to today, my last day, I get an email from HR
which mentions this:

“You will be paid as normal up to and including your last day. Your final pay check will be processed on the last business day of the month in which you finish with (the company). You will also be paid for any accrued but unused vacation days in your final pay check. Your balance is -5.5 days.”

I reached out to HR & my manager because I had 19 days of unused PTO left, and they told me that I had a balance of “negative 5.5 PTO days” and that 5.5 days would be deducted from my last paycheck because “it is calculated on a pro rata basis and I only accrued 12 days but used 18, which leaves you with a balance of negative 6 days”

I do not see how this is fair or legal because not only did they not tell me this before my very last day when they had a whole month to tell me this, but I asked HR to point me to this policy and they said “it’s not a policy, it’s standard practice for most organizations.” and then sent me the employee handbook from 2025.

I looked in the employee handbook, and there is a sentence in the PTO section that explicitly says “Employees may not have a negative balance of PTO.”
It also says “Accrued PTO not utilized by an employee by the end of the calendar year will be forfeited, unless
otherwise required by law. Unused, accrued PTO will be forfeited in the event you separate from employment, unless otherwise required by law. Employees should consult their state supplement as to the application of any state or local laws, rules, or regulations regarding annual
accrual and/or payment of any unused, accrued time upon separation.”

I checked NYSDOL, and it seems like they are in the wrong for this and like I’m being robbed of wages. I would be very grateful if someone could take a look and give some professional advice or confirm for me.

https://dol.ny.gov/unpaidwithheld-wages-and-wage-supplements