A PTO payout is cash paid for accrued but unused paid time off. It usually happens when employment ends and a final balance is settled, though some policies also allow a scheduled cash-out during employment, or pay out time above an accrual ceiling.

The question that decides it

Jurisdictions differ enormously in detail, but they all answer the same question: Is accrued leave the employee’s earned property, or a benefit the employer can withdraw?

Where leave counts as earned wages, it belongs to the employee the moment it accrues. It can’t be forfeited, and it’s payable when employment ends. Where it’s a discretionary benefit, the employer’s policy governs — and whatever that policy promises becomes enforceable.

Almost every rule below depends on which side of that line a country, state, or province falls.

Read more: Navigating the Process of PTO Payouts at Employee Exit

United States

There is no federal requirement. The FLSA doesn’t mandate paid time off at all, so it says nothing about paying it out. The answer comes from state law and from your own policy, and states fall into three groups.

Payout required regardless of policy. Where accrued vacation is treated as earned wages, forfeiture is unlawful. California is the clearest case — Labor Code § 227.3 makes vacation a vested wage, so use-it-or-lose-it is void and the balance is payable on separation. Colorado arrived at the same place through its courts: in Nieto v. Clark’s Market (2021) the state Supreme Court held that any term purporting to forfeit earned vacation is void. Massachusetts, Illinois, Nebraska, Montana and Louisiana sit here too.

Payout required unless a written policy says otherwise. In states such as New York, Ohio, and Maryland, payment is the default, but a clear, communicated policy can displace it.

No requirement. Elsewhere, you owe what your policy promises.

Two US-specific traps are worth more than the state list.

Combining sick leave into one PTO bank makes the whole balance payable. Accrued sick leave generally doesn’t have to be paid out — California says so explicitly. But merge vacation and sick into a single bank and the entire balance is treated as vacation, meaning earned wages. You can’t carve the sick portion back out afterwards. A design decision made to simplify administration can convert a non-payable entitlement into a payable one across the whole workforce.

Caps are lawful; forfeiture usually isn’t. Capping accrual at a ceiling works prospectively and is generally permitted, in California and Colorado alike. Forfeiting time already earned reaches backwards into wages, which is why courts strike it down. If you’re managing leave liability, the cap is the mechanism.

Timing carries its own penalty. In California a discharged employee must be paid immediately, including accrued vacation; someone resigning without notice must be paid within 72 hours. A willful delay triggers waiting time penalties of a day’s pay for each day late, up to 30 days — a month’s wages for an administrative lapse.

Canada

No discretion. Statutory vacation pay is calculated as a percentage of earnings, it is non-waivable, and accrued unpaid vacation pay must be paid when employment ends, typically within a short statutory window after the last day. A policy cannot contract out of it and an employee cannot sign it away. Quebec runs its own parallel regime.

Internationally

United Kingdom. Regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 requires a payment in lieu of accrued but untaken statutory holiday on termination, and statutory leave cannot be waived, capped or contracted away. Holiday continues to accrue through notice and garden leave, and the rate must reflect normal remuneration — which can include regular overtime, commission and allowances.

Australia. Under section 90(2) of the Fair Work Act, accrued but untaken annual leave must be paid out on termination, with annual leave loading included even where an award or contract says otherwise. As in the US, sick and carer’s leave is not paid out. Cashing out during employment is tightly controlled: the employee must retain at least four weeks, and each instance needs a written agreement.

European Union. Court of Justice case law protects accrued leave strongly: entitlement generally cannot be lost automatically where the employer failed to enable the worker to take it, and compensation on termination is a floor rather than a matter of policy.

Getting it right

• Pay at the current rate, not the rate at which the balance accrued
• For voluntary cash-outs, beware US constructive receipt: giving employees the option to cash out can make the amount taxable whether or not they take it. A prior-year irrevocable election is the usual fix
• Keep the calculation documented — final-pay disputes are among the most common wage claims
• Verify your own jurisdictions against current statute rather than any published table, including this one

This entry is general information, not legal or tax advice. Payout rules vary by country, US state and Canadian province and change frequently.