Perhaps I should clarify-
1) this cat openly said there’s no written policies and it’s “loose”. Basically, good luck sueing or making this a deal with no record of vacation time, etc.
2) As you said, an employers handbook that specifically outlines how they handle unpaid vacation basically becomes “law” for that company. Example- most companies only pay “up to 40 hours” or something along those lines. They aren’t REQUIRED to pay it all out if their policy says otherwise.
3) if #2 doesn’t exist, employers have to pay it out. But see #1- nothing is tracked properly in his scenario (and frankly, most companies).
Check my work amigo. I’m open to it. Strike the first line of my statement and it applies in his situation.