Fired workers entitled to vacation pay

The Supreme Judicial Court ruling yesterday backed state Attorney General Martha Coakley's interpretation of the state Wage Act.

Coakley's office argued that vacation time is part of an employee's wages, so a company must compensate a worker for unused time earned before he or she was let go.

The case began when a Electronic Data Systems Corp. worker filed a claim after he was let go in 2005. Under EDS policy, employees who left involuntarily forfeited unused vacation time. But the SJC said the policy wrongly exempted EDS from the Wage Act.

EDS, an HP company, said it respected the court's decision and would comply.