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Rice v. City of Winston-Salem12/17/2002
of vacation and sick leave benefits provided by the employer. Estes, 102 N.C. App. at 53, 401 S.E.2d at 384. In holding the employee's accumulated sick and vacation leave could not be used by the employer to offset workers' compensation disability benefits, this Court reasoned that the employee's sick and vacation leave were earned benefits. Id. at 58, 401 S.E.2d at 387. Additionally, whereas workers' compensation benefits are available only for work-related injury, the employee's vacation and sick leave could have been taken for other reasons, such as "to renew physical and mental capabilities, for personal reasons, for absences due to adverse weather conditions, and for personal illness or illnesses in the immediate family." Id.
In the present case, the Commission correctly found that payments to plaintiff under the Plan were due and payable when made. However, the Commission failed to (1) make findings concerning the nature of the Plan and (2) determine whether the Plan was a wage-replacement benefit equivalent to workers' compensation benefits or whether the Plan served separately to entitle plaintiff to additional payments over and beyond the workers' compensation benefits. Therefore, this matter is remanded to the Commission to make additional determinations in accordance with this opinion.
Affirmed in part; vacated and remanded in part.
Judges McGEE and THOMAS concur.
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