[nostrademons]

I once got called at home the Monday after I'd left a company to hear that I'd been "laid off". The previous Friday had been my official last day (planned exit, I was going off to college), but I had banked a bunch of unused vacation days, and they were calling to let me know that they wouldn't be able to pay out the remainder of my vacation pay.

Much later, when I got into the workforce for real, I learned that I could've collected unemployment checks for this, and that if I'd played my cards right, I could've been drawing unemployment for my first year at college. Ah well - one of my coworkers told me "If you'd done that, I might have to hate you. Unemployment is for workers who need it, not college students who take a gap year at a dot-com."

[electrum]

A number of states, including California, require accrued vacation to be paid out in the final paycheck: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/layoffs-plant-closing...

Unemployment is covered by taxes paid by the employer. You should absolutely collect it if legally allowed: https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Fede...

Additionally, California has additional protections for workers, such as requiring immediate payment for all wages, including accrued vacation, upon termination: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_paydays.htm

[ac29]

>if I'd played my cards right, I could've been drawing unemployment for my first year at college.

What state was this in? That is certainly illegal in California, and I would assume most states, though people do get away with defrauding the system.

[nostrademons]

It was Massachusetts. A number of people told me later that I could've collected, and a quick glance through Massachusett's Unemployment Insurance FAQ shows no mention of being a student other than UI not covering student work-study programs for financial aid:

http://www.mass.gov/lwd/unemployment-insur/resources/questio...

I didn't because it never occurred to me - as far as I was concerned, I left my job normally to go to college and they just didn't pay out the vacation pay. I wasn't hurting for money then or now (I was still living with my parents at the time), so I don't really regret it, but it does appear to be a real, genuine loophole in the system.

[loco5niner]

Even worse, when I worked at "chip manufacturing plant", the construction crews would _regularly_ be laid off, unemployment would be drawn, then magically re-hired months later. Working the system...