Former employers claims ex-employee owes them 20 PTO hours despite previously claiming they'd cover it: 'He can come and get it'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Oct 16, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

It's never a good idea to owe somebody money. You should avoid it at all costs if you can. But sometimes you can't. And then you have to deal with the consequences. That said, it can be a terrible feeling-- owing someone money. You feel it itch in the back of your mind. 

What's even worse is finding out you owe money that you didn't expect to owe, especially if you're on a tight budget (like most people in the world). You've probably figured out what you can spend for the month, and any change in that might drastically set you off course. You might have an emergency fund, but hopefully those funds can be saved for real emergencies, not paying for PTO that your company said you had. But that's what happened to the employee in this story, who encountered a tough situation after her company was bought out by a larger one. She thought that everything would transfer over smoothly, but she thought wrong. So she turned to the internet for a little advice. 

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  • A confused employee looks at her laptop.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • She wondered if she actually owed her former employee money, and if so, what could she do about it? Commenters weighed in with their thoughts and opinions. Read on to see what you think about it. 

  • Former employer says I have to pay back vacation time?

    So I work at a printing company. Just last month, our department was closed and bought out by a different company. I was brought into the new company. My former company just called me to let me know that I owe them 20 hours of PTO pay.
    via u/Flat_Effective_3546
  • They're saying that I used 80 hours of vacation time, when I only had 60 hours. Yes, I did use 80 hours because that's what I was told. I even check my vacation time balance earlier in the year and it says that I had a balance of 80 hours. I was with the company for 4 year, and I've always used 80 hours of vacation time yearly. The company resets our vacation time balance yearly, it isn't accumulated every pay period.
    via u/Flat_Effective_3546
  • Is this a company mistake or do I actually have to pay back the former company???
    via u/Flat_Effective_3546

  • Commenters gave their ideas.

    DazzlingPotion · 3d ago If you have a pay stub showing you had 80 hrs then print it out and show them.
    via u/DazzlingPotion
  • A confused employee talks on the phone and looks at her laptop.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • punkwalrus 3d ago • When my wife died, she had taken out an FSA for medical needs in January which hadn't been paid in full when she died in March. Her employer said later that year that we owed them $600 that hadn't been paid on FSA. I said to ask her about it, or contact the estate, given that she's dead. "No, as her husband, you now have to pay for it."
    via u/punkwalrus
  • Hahaha no. Nothing more came of it. How fucking petty. People will try anything.
    via u/punkwalrus
  • • Proof-Emergency-5441 3d ago Check your employee handbook and see if you are granted leave or if you accrue leave. We allow use prior to accrual, so your full amount shows up Jan 1. But you accrue it through the year. So if you quit in February, you will be
    via u/Proof-Emergency-5441
  • paid out a prorated amount instead of the full amount you would get for the year. This is extremely common and also extremely misunderstood. It may also be because your contract was effectively bought out with 75% of the year gone, which is why they are only giving you credit for 75% of the vacation time.
    via u/Proof-Emergency-5441
  • It's up to them if they wish to pursue it. Generally companies leave it alone unless you took off the first two weeks of January and then quit. How is your relationship with your new manager? Frankly this is something they should have addressed before the change and accounted for.
    via u/Proof-Emergency-5441
  • Flat Effective_3546 OP.3d ago Well, i have a new manager now. I am not sure what happened to my previous manager when our department was bought out.
    via u/Flat_Effective_3546
  • youngboomer62 • 3d ago . A former employer? Tell them to deduct it from your next paycheque.
    via u/youngboomer62
  • rkozik89 3d ago Just just jumping in here to say PTO is sometimes accrued but given to employees upfront. Which means if you don't complete the year with them you do owe them for PTO you wouldn't have accrued until after your employment ended.
    via u/rkozik89
  • Old_Still3321 • 3d ago He can come and get it.
    via u/Old_Still3321
  • skiddily_biddily · 3d ago • My guess is that the 80 hours per year has been prorated for the 3/4 of a year that transpired before the sale of the company.
    via u/skiddily_biddily
  • CoffeeStayn ⚫3d ago Sounds like since they "reset" annually, you earn it back throughout the calendar year. So, if you had 80 (on paper) but only earned 60 throughout the year, it sounds like they prorated you and now are clawing back, which I believe they're in their rights to do.
    via u/CoffeeStayn
  • Example: I am your employer. I give everyone 80 hours on January 1. That means in order to earn out that 80 hours, they'd be expected to remain employed until December 31 of that year. If they took the full 80, but left June 30, they'd only have earned roughly 40 of those 80 hours. And now would owe 40 hours unearned but taken.
    via u/CoffeeStayn
  • So you, as the employee, would accrue roughly 20 hours per quarter. If they're saying that you owe them 20 hours back, that would tell me that you left on or around October 1 of that year (or 274 days after the allotment). Having earned only 60 of the 80 hours allotted.
    via u/CoffeeStayn
  • An employer can claw back any time not yet accrued. Sounds like that might have been the case here. Gave 80. Earned out only 60. Took 80. Now owe 20. The math holds up.
    via u/CoffeeStayn
  • PerceptionSuperb3... 2d ago I would say no and invite them to sue. Lol there's no way they are spending money on lawyers for that. Quite honestly, they should have just written it off.
    via u/PerceptionSuperb3629
  • 3d ago Edited 3d ago Fissi... 3d ago . • It is not uncommon to use vacation time before it is accrued in a calendar year. I suspect that is what you have done. You will continue to accrue the vacation time probably at a 3 hour rate per pay period. You probably got 3 hours from today's paycheck and there are 5 more pay periods in this calendar year.
    via u/Fission-235
  • Then you should be squared up by the end of the year. No need for you to pay them back as vacation time accrues every paycheck. It just sucks that you don't have anymore days off the rest of this calendar year. You don't look to good right now. I think you are coming down with something that will make you sick the next 4 consecutive Fridays
    via u/Fission-235
  • I recommend having a face to face meeting instead of handling this over email, and demand this morons credentials. But don't call them a moron. Just compliment them on their amazing attention to detail.
    via u/Fission-235
  • . Hist... 3d ago Edited 3d ago • The vacation time was likely prorated for the year. So when you left mid year they are saying you used more than you were entitled to when they did the date calculation. It's should only be an issue if you quit and used more vacation time then
    via u/HistoricalSundae5113
  • you should have for the year. You can either pay it back or I would respond saying "as you are aware our dept was closed and sold off to a new company. I believe it would have been your responsibility to ensure liabilities were covered off during that sale process. I acted in good faith based on my allotted vacation balance for the year and am unable to pay that back."
    via u/HistoricalSundae5113
  • Your other option is taking this to your new manager / company. I'd tell the first company to pound sand first, but say it professionally.
    via u/HistoricalSundae5113

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boss antiwork workplace-stories toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers working reddit story toxic-boss PTO workplace reddit thread bad bosses Reddit toxic-work-environment
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