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Accrued Vacation Pay Is Covered by the Wage Payment and Collection Law

By James Edward Rubin

I have written many articles on why accrued vacation should be considered a wage under the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law (MWPCL) . This is an important issue for Maryland employees. If accrued vacation is covered by the MWPCL, a plaintiff suing to recover earned wages may be entitled to three times the amount actually owed.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals settled the matter in favor of Maryland employees. In Catapult Technology, LTD v. Wolfe, the Court held that accrued vacation is covered by the MWPCL and cannot be forfeited. The Court stated that information on on the Maryland Department of Labor's website stating that accrued vacation is not a wage -- is wrong. In a troubling portion of the opinion the Court denied treble damages finding that the plaintiffs did not prove Catapult kept their earned waged in bad faith.

My colleague, Marc Smith, of Smith, Lease and Goldstein,and WageCollection.com, litigated this case.

Full post as published by Maryland Employment Law on August 29, 2007 (boomark / email).