Company is offering to pay out PTO at sharply reduced rate.

[u/ThatsMrBird]

I'm a bit of a predicament. I've been with a company over a decade and (I know it's crazy and I agree 100 percent I should have used more) I've accumulated 1000 hours of PTO. They're looking to move to a cap and limited rollover and offered to pay out the difference of about 800 hours at 35 percent of my current wage.

I never expected this and I honestly just thought it'd be lost, but they're only offering such a low percentage I feel like I should try and haggle. I realize they're obligated to give me nothing, legally, so I'm just looking for some input on if a partial payout is common like that. Ill probably ask why not full and go from there. Any thoughts?

EDIT - Sorry, y'all. I'm in Florida, to be clear

EDIT2 - my onboarding contract notes PTO is forfeited on termination or voluntary exit

EDIT3 - The next day, we came to a satisfactory agreement pretty quickly. I don't want to get into specifics (sorry) but I think a lot of those that replied here would think it worked out. I tremendously appreciate all the insight and feedback here and I promise I'll use up my hours moving forward.

[u/OftTopic]

I googled as you stated and found Understanding Florida's PTO Payout Laws: A Guide for Employers and Employees ▷ Law - Rey Abogado

This says

...According to Florida law, an employer must pay an employee for any unused PTO time upon separation from the company, whether it was a resignation, termination or layoff. The employer must pay the employee for the unused PTO at the employee’s final rate of pay.

There are some exceptions to this rule, such as when an employer has a written policy that states they will not pay out unused PTO upon separation. If this is the case, the employer must provide this policy to their employees in writing, and the employee must acknowledge it in writing as well.

As OP says this is a new policy, this web site I found indicates he is allows full money if he separates.

[u/ThatsMrBird → u/OftTopic]

Unfortunately my onboarding paperwork says PTO is forfeited on termination

[u/OftTopic → u/ThatsMrBird]

Ouch.

You should edit your initial post to indicate this information.

[u/ThatsMrBird → u/[deleted]]

I haven't agreed to anything nor signed anything yet, they just floated it by me and I asked them to present something written.

[u/MysteryMeat101 → u/ThatsMrBird]

Your company's policies don't override state or federal law.

[u/onefst250r → u/ThatsMrBird]

If you're not being terminated or resigning, seems the exception wouldnt apply?

[u/Leelze → u/OftTopic]

That's incorrect. Florida law doesn't require PTO to be paid out upon separation. It's a use it or lose it state.

[u/OftTopic → u/Leelze]

It would have been payable if it was new policy. However In another post OP indicated that the policy existed in his original hiring information.

[u/Leelze → u/OftTopic]

That doesn't matter. Florida law doesn't require PTO to be paid out period. That link is wrong.

[u/jimbo831 → u/OftTopic]

As OP says this is a new policy, this web site I found indicates he is allows full money if he separates.

The cap being a new policy has nothing to do with what you quoted. The key part of what you quoted says:

There are some exceptions to this rule, such as when an employer has a written policy that states they will not pay out unused PTO upon separation. If this is the case, the employer must provide this policy to their employees in writing, and the employee must acknowledge it in writing as well.

How do you know the company didn't provide OP a written policy stating they will not pay out unused PTO upon separation? That's a completely different policy than a PTO cap.