Interpretation of the parties’ employment agreement as to monetary payout for unused vacation time; MCL 408.471 of the Payment of Wage & Fringe Benefits Act (PWFBA); “Fringe benefits” & “wages”; Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)

Holding that the ALJ made a clear legal error in his interpretation of the parties’ employment agreement, and the circuit court clearly erred by failing to correct that error, the court reversed and remanded. Respondent’s employment agreement allowed him to take vacation time without losing pay while he was employed. However, it did not provide him “with the right to a monetary payout for his unused vacation time.” The decisions of the ALJ and the circuit court “improperly rewrote the parties’ employment agreement to include a benefit not provided in the agreement.” The court held that “respondent’s employment agreement did not provide for the payment for more vacation days than it already paid him and that the PWFBA also does not require the payment of additional accrued and unused vacation time.”