Maryland: unused vacation when employment ends

With no written policy limiting it, a terminated employee is entitled to the cash value of unused earned vacation. A forfeiture only sticks if the employer put it in writing at the time of hiring.

Each answer traces to the lines quoted below.

What the source says

• If an employer informs employees in writing at the time of hiring that unused vacation leave will be lost or forfeited upon termination, then an employee will not be able to claim it.
• Where the employer does not have a written policy that limits the compensation for accrued leave to a terminated employee, that employee is entitled to the cash value of whatever unused earned vacation leave was left, provided it was otherwise usable.
• The timing of the notice is what matters — Maryland ties the forfeiture to writing given at the time of hiring, not to a policy introduced later.
• The leave also has to have been usable: a balance the employee could never have taken does not convert into cash on the way out.
• So two documents decide a Maryland payout — the hiring notice and the written leave policy — and the absence of either one works in the employee's favor.

Sources

What 80 hours a year looks like on a biweekly schedule

The bar below is not specific to Maryland law — it shows the mechanic every schedule shares. Eighty hours a year across 26 paychecks is 3.08 hours a period. With no ceiling the balance climbs for the whole year.

Closing balance after a year: 80.08 hours.

Does Maryland require my employer to pay out unused vacation?

With no written policy limiting it, a terminated employee is entitled to the cash value of unused earned vacation. A forfeiture only sticks if the employer put it in writing at the time of hiring.

Can a policy in Maryland erase vacation I already earned?

On use-it-or-lose-it, the source read for this page puts Maryland at: Allowed with conditions. The quoted lines on this page are the basis for that, and anything the source did not settle is listed as not established.

Where did these lines come from?

From Unused Vacation at Termination — Is It Payable? The Maryland Guide to Wage Payment and Employment Standards. Each one was opened and read rather than summarised from another site, and the links are on this page.

Is this legal advice?

No. This page quotes public sources so you can read them yourself. It is not legal advice and it does not replace your employer’s written policy or a lawyer in your jurisdiction.