My wife ended employment with San Bernardino county (California) in mid-late December. She still had 135 hours of vacation time that was supposed to be paid out and is yet to receive. They still have her as an “Active Employee” according to HR, payroll services, and her union. The only answer that we have received is that someone must be holding up her paperwork, and can't process the vacation time until they get it . Like many government agencies, it seems like the right hand is unable to communicate with the left hand. The union does not seem to be of much help either, and says that they may be able to get this paid out by Feb. 15th, but they don't know. The union does acknowledge that this is not normal
We also get the response from payroll that since the County is a government agency, they are not subject to the same labor and wage laws as private entities, so they may not be held to the 72 hour rule. At the same time, they are holding up her paperwork so she can't get paid. We are under a financial hardship right now because her new job with the school district only gives a partial first paycheck because of their yearly formula that they figure into her start date.
It's hard to figure out where to go for advice/action since this was a government job, but I know that this community has given helpful advice as I have lurked through posts over the past few months. We tried to file a wage complaint with the DIR this morning, but unable to create an account due to technical issues on their side. I decided to call them and they told me to contact the union, and if they are unable to help, write an email to the Labor Commissions office to see if they can help. If they can't help, then contact the Department of Labor. I wrote an email to the Labors Commissions office anyways since it seems the union is dragging their feet. Is the county subject to owing us more since they are leaving us waiting indefinitely? Is this something where I should hire a lawyer? Seems unfair that there is no obvious recourse that she is able to take.