If promised, vacation must be granted. Although no Idaho law requires private sector employers to provide employees with vacations, paid or unpaid, most employers do offer their employees some version of vacation. Thus, it is important for employers to remember that if they “promise” vacation, they may be legally bound to provide it--and that a binding promise does not require embodiment in a formal employment contract. Idaho courts have ruled that, under some circumstances, an employer's assurance of paid vacation time, whether made in an employee handbook or simply as a matter of consistent practice, may constitute an implied contract, which is binding and enforceable.
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Download Now Accrual method. Employers are free to devise their own system for vacation accrual--for example, on a monthly or pay-period basis, or upon completion of a 6-month or 12-month period. It is important to be clear and unambiguous when drafting such policies. If the policy is intended to ensure that employees work the entire accrual period to earn their vacation days, it should state clearly that employees will not be entitled to pro rata payment if they leave partway through the period. Remember that any vagueness in the policy is likely to be construed against the employer.
Vacation pay due at termination? he Idaho Code says that payment for earned vacation is considered wages, and the Idaho Appeals Court has ruled that such payment must be made, as wages, at termination. Idaho courts have awarded triple damages to ex-employees when the employer failed to pay for earned, unused vacation (ID Code Sec. 45-615, ID Code Sec. 45-617; see also Whitlock v. Haney Seed, 759 P.2d 919).