Opinion ID: 2638938
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Time Off Work

Text: [¶37] Diamond B Services claims that the hearing examiner erred when she ruled that it was not entitled to deduct $2,773.16 from Mr. Rohde's pay to account for 26 days he was absent from work. The 26 days included vacation days, sick days, Sundays and legal holidays. Diamond B Services claims that Mr. Rohde was not entitled to be paid for any time he was absent from work and it could reduce his pay if he took any time off work. By requiring it to pay Mr. Rohde for days he was absent from work, Diamond B Services argues that the Department improperly imposed upon it a contractual responsibility to provide paid vacation to Mr. Rohde when the parties had no such agreement. [¶38] The hearing officer relied on Wyo. Stat. Ann. §27-4-507(b) (LexisNexis 2003) in ruling that Diamond B Services was not entitled to refuse to pay Mr. Rohde for the days he missed work. That statute states: (b) It shall be unlawful for any employer to pay to any employee a lower wage, salary, or compensation than that provided for or agreed upon by (1) a collective bargaining agreement; (2) a contract between the employer and employee. In no event shall a collective bargaining agreement or a contract provide for compensation lower than any applicable existing statute of this state. Id. [¶39] The hearing officer found that the parties did not have an express agreement with regard to vacation time, and the record bears that out. Mr. Rohde's pay stubs consistently showed 0 on the vacation hours line, and neither party testified that Mr. Rohde was entitled to a certain amount of vacation per year. Although not stated in so many words, the hearing officer essentially found that the parties' course of conduct indicated that Mr. Rohde was allowed to take days off work without having his pay reduced. See e.g., WERCS v. Capshaw , 2004 WY 86, ¶20, 94 P.3d 421, 426 (Wyo. 2004) (discussing how the parties' course of conduct may define an employment relationship). [¶40] Mr. Rohde testified that Randy Burry was aware when he was going to be absent from work. During February 2002, Mr. Rohde missed a few days of work to attend a car race in California. That trip had been arranged by his girlfriend as a surprise for him and she had contacted Randy Burry and received authorization for Mr. Rohde to be absent from work. He received full pay in the paycheck which covered the days he was absent in February 2002. [¶41] Mr. Rohde's other absences included short vacations around and including the Independence Day and Thanksgiving holidays. Mr. Rohde had, apparently, been taking those vacations for years to attend family functions, and Randy Burry was aware that Mr. Rohde would be gone on those days in 2002. There is no indication that his pay had been reduced in previous years for taking those vacation days and, in fact, the paycheck which covered the Independence Day holiday in 2002 did not include a deduction for the days he was absent from work. Mr. Rohde was also absent from work in December for the Christmas holiday, and he testified that Randy Burry was aware that he would be gone during that time. [¶42] Substantial evidence exists in the record to support the hearing officer's determination that the parties' course of conduct evinced an agreement that Mr. Rohde was to have time off from work without having his pay reduced.