Minnick v. Automotive Creations, Inc., 13 Cal. App. 5th 1000 (2017)

Nathan Minnick, who had worked for only six months before his employment ended, sued his former joint employers under PAGA, alleging their vacation policy violated state law because it required employees who worked for less than one year to forfeit their vested vacation pay. The trial court sustained the employers’ demurrer and dismissed the complaint, and the Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that the policy in question (“All employees earn 1 week of vacation after completion of one year of service…”) simply imposed a one-year “waiting period” before employees began to earn and could take vacation. Further, “an employer has the authority to ‘front-load’ the vacation benefit, permitting the employee to take a one week paid vacation during the second year, even before it is fully earned…”