monday again. on the other hand, this is the LAST monday i will ever be spending at my inane job. kinda makes me glad it's monday :)

instead of going to washington DC and new york, i have decided instead to go on a cruise. sunshine and fish tacos just seem like a better way to spend my vacation than cold weather and a bullet in the head.

speaking of vacation, my work is refusing to pay me my vacation time!
Try to solve this legal quandry: (more for my reference than anything else, but please give me any and all suggestions you can!!!)

My company policy states (sic):
"After 1 year of continuous full time employment with the company, you are eligible for 2 weeks paid vacation annually. The vacation allowance is during the calendar year and vacation days do not accumulate. Vacations cannot be "cashed" for addiditonal payroll."

My first day of employment was September 13, 2001. I have worked 40 hours each week since then.

A few of my friends have pointed out that it's illegal in California for companies to force their employees to "use or lose" their vacation, and that unused vacation must be paid out as extra payroll. Read all about that here, and here, and here.

Last year, I used up 5 of my vacation days, which were advanced to me before my one-year anniversary in good faith that I would, in fact, stay for a year.
After September 13 (my one-year anniversary), I requested a vacation day off to go to Arizona, and it was approved.

When I gave my two weeks' notice, I asked my employer if I could take my four remaining days of vacation. They refused, and will not pay me for my vacation because "they do not want to make a habit of paying people for vacation when they are leaving."

Doesn't make much sense, does it? Well, I asked for a written denial of my vacation pay, and they refused, saying that they will sign nothing.

Now, they say that ANOTHER reason I don't get vacation pay is because I was not actually classified as a full-time employee until December 7th (ostensibly, after my 3 month probation period...but that doesn't make sense either, because then it would be December 13th). However, they gave me my one-year anniversary review in September, and approved the one vacation day I took in September... so it sounds to me like they're trying to find an excuse to push back my date of eligibility.

Some questions:
What is the definition "1 year of continuous full time employment"? It is not outlined in the company policy. If I have been working 40 hours a week for one year, would that not qualify me as a full-time employee for a year, or would I have to be checked off somewhere on some form or other as a "real" full-timer?
If they gave me my one-year review in September, does that not imply that I was with the company for one full year?

Pretty confusing, eh? I don't think it's very fair, but since I'm still on good terms with my boss, I'll sit on it for about 6 months.