I worked for this employer for a little under 6 months and accrued 55 hours of PTO. I put in my two weeks notice on March 23, 2023 with my last day being June 6th, 2023. Due to the termination policy stating “the maximum payment for unused and accrued PTO at termination of employment will not exceed 40 hours”, my manager helped me input and approve 2 8-hour days bringing my total down to 39 hours of PTO.
However, these 2 days of PTO were scheduled for June 7th and June 8th. Due to this, my manager asked HR to not terminate me until the 14th so the days would go through.
At this point, I was expecting to get paid for the 16 hours of PTO that had been approved plus the 39 remaining hours of PTO balance on my last check after termination.
My second to last check did include the 16 approved hours but my last check only had 24 hours of PTO. I talked to HR and they stated that since my last physical day was on June 6th (although I was still technically an employee ‘til June 14th) the 2 8-hour days would count towards my final 40 hour PTO maximum payment. Keep in mind that the 16 approved hours fell on a different pay period. To my understanding of company policy I am still owed 15 hours of PTO.
They have also been dodging me, making it difficult to contact them, and locking my employer email account prohibiting me from seeing my pay stubs and PTO amount. Am I able to file a claim for unpaid wages with the Texas Workforce Commission and should I?