Final answer:
The employer is obligated to pay for 72 hours of vacation time that the employee earned during their 6 months of employment. Option number C is correct.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question involves determining the amount of vacation hours an employer is obligated to pay if an employee leaves after working for 6 months when originally the employee was to earn 144 hours of vacation over a 12-month period, at a rate of 12 hours per month.
Since the employee worked for 6 months, they would have accrued 6 months x 12 hours/month = 72 hours of vacation. Therefore, the employer would be obligated to pay for the 72 hours of vacation time that the employee has earned before leaving the job.