Help Wanted: Legality of unpaid breaks

Your situation falls under the category of "no good deed goes unpunished." You went in early and wound up with a three-hour hole in the middle of your work day. Maybe going in early is not the best strategy after all.

The American Bar Association sums up many companies' stance in its "Guide to Workplace Law":

"To protect themselves from possible liability and defamation, many employers will only verify that an employee worked for them for a particular period, and will not provide an assessment of that employee's performance."

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That said, one of your supervisors may be willing to write you a letter of recommendation. It won't hurt to ask. If that person balks because of time constraints, ask if you could cobble together a letter from his or her comments in your evaluation. With their permission and signature, you could be on your way.

DEAR CARRIE: I was let go from my company and didn't receive any severance or vacation pay. I was with the company for two years and had some unused vacation days. Am I eligible to receive pay for those days? If so, how would I go about getting it? Do you have any legal paperwork that I can give to my former employer? -- PTO Query

For more on the federal definition of hours worked go to http://1.usa.gov/M6EBiy

For more on state labor laws regarding paid time off go to http://bit.ly/OhVNDt