CA DLSE hearing for unpaid vacation
Sorry for the long post…
Location: California
I’m in California and my wage claim is moving to a Berman hearing for unpaid vacation wages and penalties. I worked for a small company from 2021-April 2026. There was no handbook or written vacation policy. Starting in 2022, we were verbally told we received one week of paid vacation each year. My paystubs from 2022-2025 specifically show VACATION/PTO, and I have a text from my employer saying “You get a weeks paid vacation each year”. There was never an accrual policy or formula explained to me or an available PTO balance shown on my paystubs. It would only show when the time was applied and in the YTD after that. In May 2022 and March 2025, I used the full 40 hours relatively early in the year and was never told it was being advanced.
I quit in April 2026 after giving two weeks notice. I had an upcoming vacation already acknowledged and approved by my employer through text, but I left before taking it. When I requested payment for my unused 40 hours, they refused and claimed the vacation I’d received over the years was just a “bonus/courtesy/thank-you.”
I filed a DLSE claim and continued asking for payment even offering to withdraw the claim if I was paid. They initially said their HR/payroll company said nothing was owed and if I filed a claim it would go no where, but then said they would have my check ready, but required me to sign a severance/release agreement to receive it. I refused to sign.
Since then, their explanations have changed from no vacation policy, to PTO being a courtesy, to saying I never accrued vacation, and now to arguing that even if vacation existed, I didn’t accrue a the full 40 hours by the time I left in April.
We recently had the DLSE settlement conference. The employer now has an attorney, who apparently didn’t know about my 2022-2024 VACATION/PTO paystubs or the text explicitly saying I get a week of paid vacation each year. Their attorney argued my 2025 PTO was merely a courtesy because the shop was closed and because “2025 was the only year I received paid vacation”, this proved to him this was never a benefit otherwise I would’ve been receiving it regularly throughout my employment… the deputy ended up sharing her screen with all my paystubs and the text message lol
We couldn’t reach a settlement, so it’s now going to a Berman hearing. My main evidence is the 2022-2025 VACATION/PTO paystubs, the “week paid vacation each year” text, texts acknowledging my planned 2026 vacation, my repeated requests for payment, and the severance form they wanted signed for the check.
For anyone familiar with CA employment law/DLSE hearings, how would you present this? I’m especially curious how to respond to their new accrual argument when no accrual formula was ever communicated, and whether conditioning the $840 check on a severance/release affects their defense to waiting-time penalties. I’d also appreciate hearing any weaknesses in my case or arguments I should expect from their attorney during this hearing.
Also, any idea how long it will actually take to get to the hearing? It’s not scheduled yet, but my settlement conference moved fairly quickly from the time I filed.