there are a few things that get hammered out when you leave employment from somewhere. one of those is cashing out remaining vacation time.

under typical circumstances, this is not a particularly exciting or noteworthy event. your former employer simply pays you at your current wage for the hours remaining in your vacation bank. it looks something like this:

vacation hours x current wage = gross amount

it's not hard. at least it shouldn't be. my old employer has decided to do this instead:

vacation hours x old, lower wage = gross amount

the difference between the two amounts is not huge, but it is a difference. is this legal here in colorado? great question--i honestly don't know. here's what i do know, however:

1) it doesn't seem fair or right. it feels unethical and improper.

2) it is foolish. it encourages employees to take all their vacation before they quit so they get paid at the current rate instead. from the employee's point of view, it would make more sense to take the last bit of time as vacation and then call in the day they're supposed to go back and say, "hey, by the way, i'm not coming back." it's much better for the employer to have advance notice of an employee quitting and this encourages the opposite behavior.

3) well, before i get fully into number 3, let me step back a moment. please either quit now or read to the end of this article. it is important that if you continue, you hear *all* of the rest of what i've written.

my former employer is a christian, non-profit organization. i left because they treat people poorly. the subject of this post is just the latest examples in a long string of behavior.

this bothers me to no end: that an organization that claims the name of Jesus treats people the way they do. Jesus didn't act this way when he walked the earth 2000 years ago. in fact, one of the noticeable characteristics of his behavior was that he consistently brought people dignity, he cared for them, and he had tremendous compassion for them--he never abused them. this is what it means to be a follower of Christ--to, among other things, care for people; to always honor people and never belittle them or treat them like they are of little worth; to do the right thing; to be generous.

it seems far too common in the present day for so-called christians to instead treat people as unworthy--to dishonor them. this is not okay and Jesus does not approve. the bible states this. to claim to be a christian and to act this way is not congruent.

organizations, of course, are not people themselves. organizations are made up of people. so when i speak of an organization, i'm really speaking of the people who make up that organization--particularly those that are in leadership (by title or by influence).

so in essence i'm saying this: the people that lead this particular organization are not acting properly. in a christian context this is usually called sin. it is. and they need to repent and change their ways.

what frustrates me so much is that this kind of behavior is what reinforces the popular claim that christians are hypocrites.

i know many amazing people who claim to be christians. their lives, their actions reflect what the bible teaches. they are true followers of Jesus.

i know others that claim to be christians but their actions clash with the bible's teachings. these are the people that make room for the claims of hypocrisy. it has been my experience that these kinds of people tend to most often associate themselves with large "christian" organizations and thus gain the most visibility.

the christian who is actually following Jesus' teachings doesn't call attention to that--they just live that way day-in and day-out. occasionally they find themselves in a high-visibility position, but they don't seek it out and there are fewer of them there.

it seems that most of the people in the public view who claim to be christians are often those that act least like it. so it is with those that lead the organization i used to work for.

please don't hold it against Jesus that some people that claim to be christians are mean, dishonest, selfish people. i'm as disappointed by those people's actions as anybody. instead, learn what Jesus actually did and taught--read the bible yourself. the God of the bible isn't much like what most people see in the public sphere.

3) now, back to number 3. for an organization that claims to be a christian organization to actually pull this kind of stunt--to try to gyp their employees out of their vacation wages--is terrible. of all people, christians wouldn't do this. true christians anyway.

i have deliberately not named the organization at this time. if you know me and know who they are, i would ask that you refrain from doing so for now. i continue to negotiate with them and do hope to achieve a proper resolution. i may or may not name them later--we'll see.