Do we have to pay PTO to employee who lied? 04-05-2006

We just found out that a nurse working for us who resigned a few weeks ago has not been licensed for the last 6 mos. She is now demanding her PTO. Do we have to pay her? We gave her 3 weeks severance when she left and before we knew she was not licensed.

Rita Risser replies:

It sounds like you have a number of problems. First, there needs to be a system in place for insuring that all nurses and other licensed personnel are in fact licensed. Second, you should not be paying severance pay without having employees signing a release of claims before they get the severance pay. This release needs to be drafted by a local attorney. Third, you need to have a written PTO policy that specifically addresses whether people will be able to cash out their PTO when they leave. Again, you need to develop this with a local attorney.

If you have a policy requiring you to pay PTO, if you have a past practice of always paying PTO, or if you are in a state that treats PTO as wages, such as California, then you will have to pay this nurse despite her lack of licensure.

Good luck.

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