Ohio: unused vacation when employment ends

No Ohio statute was verified that requires a private employer to pay out accrued vacation. Ohio sets accrual and payout rules for its own workforce.

Each answer traces to the lines quoted below.

What the source says

• Ohio's own accrual schedule is tied to the pay period, not the calendar: accruals are based on an 80-hour pay period, and an employee with less than 80 hours in an active pay status receives a prorated accrual.
• When the maximum accumulation is reached, pay period accruals cease — the balance stops growing until hours are used.
• The state schedule steps with service: 3.1 hours per pay period under 4 years, 4.6 hours after 4 years, 6.2 hours after 9 years, 6.9 hours after 14 years, 7.7 hours after 19 years and 9.2 hours after 24 years.
• The matching caps step the same way — 240 hours under 4 years, 360 after 4, 480 after 9, 540 after 14, 600 after 19 and 720 after 24 — and some bargaining units carry higher caps at each step.
• Exempt employees and OCSEA-represented firefighters accrue against a 104-hour pay period instead, on a separate schedule running from 4.0 hours and a 312-hour cap up to 12.0 hours and a 936-hour cap.
• The federal floor still applies to private employers: the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, and these benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employee.

Sources

What 80 hours a year looks like on a biweekly schedule

The bar below is not specific to Ohio 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 Ohio require my employer to pay out unused vacation?

No Ohio statute was verified that requires a private employer to pay out accrued vacation. Ohio sets accrual and payout rules for its own workforce.

Can a policy in Ohio erase vacation I already earned?

On use-it-or-lose-it, the source read for this page puts Ohio at: Not established here. 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 Vacation Leave Accrual and Maximum Accumulation — Ohio Department of Administrative Services; Vacation Leave — U.S. Department of Labor. 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.