Paid time off
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Paid time off personal time off (PTO) is a policy in some employee handbooks that provides a bank of hours in which the employer pools sick days, vacation days, and personal days that allows employees to use as the need or desire arises. This policy pertains mainly to the United States, where there are no federal legal requirements for a minimum number of paid vacation days (see also the list of statutory minimum employment leave by country). Instead, U.S. companies determine the amount of paid time off that will be allotted to employees, while keeping in mind the payoff in recruiting and retaining employees. In the United States, paid vacation is typically two weeks or less per year for the first few years of employment in addition to roughly 10 paid federal holidays.[1]
Generally PTO hours cover everything from planned vacations to sick days, and are becoming more prevalent in the field of human resource management. Unlike more traditional leave plans, PTO plans don't distinguish employee absences from personal days, vacation days, or sick days. Upon employment, the company determines how many PTO hours will be allotted per year and a "rollover" policy. Some companies let PTO hours accumulate for only a year, and unused hours disappear at year-end.[1] Some PTO plans may also accommodate unexpected or unforeseeable circumstances such as jury duty, military duty, and bereavement leave.[2] PTO bank plans typically do not include short-term or long-term disability leave, workers compensation, family and medical leave, sabbatical, or community service leave.[3]
It is unclear as to when PTO bank-type plans were first being utilized in the workforce. In a 2010 study conducted by WorldatWork, 44% of 387 companies surveyed said they started using PTO bank-type plans prior to year 2000.[4]
Benefits
- PTO can be an attractive benefit for healthy employees because they are offered more vacation time under a PTO plan than they would be under a plan that differentiates sick leave and vacation.
- Theoretically, the employee will be honest in scheduling PTO in advance, allowing the company to plan around the absence, rather than "calling in sick" at the last minute.
- PTO is usually attractive to younger workers, who tend to rate work-life balance as an important source of job satisfaction.
- The flexibility of PTO plans aligns with the current trend in the United States of having more frequent but shorter vacations.[1]
- Tracking PTO is less onerous for management and employee than tracking personal, sick and vacation days.
- Employees who give adequate two weeks' notice before retirement or resignation may be paid for all unused, accrued PTO.[1] ...
Disadvantages
- At first glance, PTO may not be attractive for employers due to little direct advantage. This is because the employer pays the employee for time spent not working; thus, receiving nothing in return for the expense.
- Employees may tend to miss work more frequently, which can be seen as a drawback for the employers and lead to absenteeism. This can be offset by the employer establishing acceptable and unacceptable standards of unscheduled PTO (call-offs).
- If an employee has used all of his or her allotted PTO days yet becomes ill, he or she will most likely have to work while sick, which may result in lower productivity. In order to compensate for the lack of remaining PTO, he or she may also have to cancel a planned vacation, and take a financial loss.
- If PTO hours go unused, employees may sometimes call in sick near the end of the year so they can obtain the benefit of paid leave before it disappears. Employers may counter this tendency by paying employees for some or all of their unused days at year-end or upon retirement or resignation.[1]
- Employers in the United States need to be aware of their state labor law regarding paid time off. If not, the policy might not be legally enforceable.
Workforce trends
A longitudinal study conducted by WorldatWork of over 1,000 organizations of different sizes concluded that over recent years, PTO plans have become more actively utilized by the general workforce. In 2002, about 71% of organizations were using traditional distinguished paid time off system, and about 28% were utilizing the PTO bank-type system. As of 2010, the use of the traditional paid time off system decreased to 54%, while the use of the PTO bank system increased to around 40% of all organizations.
Recent information may indicate that PTO bank-type plans are difficult to implement in very large organizations. In 2010, only 32% of organizations with 20,000+ employees had a PTO bank-type system. However, 51% of organizations with 10,000-19,999 employees had PTO bank-type plans. In organizations with less than 100 employees, 48% had PTO bank-type plans.[4]
In the 2010 study performed by WorldatWork, industrial differences were also found. 97% of organizations in the Education industry use traditional paid time off plans with only 3% utilizing a PTO bank-type system. On the other hand, 80% of organizations in the Health-care and Social Assistance industry utilize PTO bank-type systems.[4]
As of 2012, nearly one in five employees in the United States receive leave in the form of a PTO bank plan, but the contours of such policies are often little understood—especially outside of the human resources community.
Among employees with paid leave, lower-wage employees are less likely to have access to a PTO bank than a traditional paid vacation system. 51% of employees in the lowest average wage quartile have access to any vacation time, and only 9 percent of the lowest wage employees have access to a PTO bank. 89% of employees in the highest wage quartile have access to vacation time and 28% have access to a PTO bank.
There is also a difference in PTO among employment status. 9% of Part-time employees have access to a PTO bank, whereas about 23% of full-time employees do.
14% of unionized organizations have access to PTO bank-type plans.[3]
Length of service
Paid time off usually increases with years of service to an organization. This provides a greater benefit for employees who have been with the organization longer.
| Years of service | Average days per year |
|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | 14 |
| 2 years of service | 17 |
| 3 years of service | 18 |
| 4 years of service | 18 |
| 5 years of service | 21 |
| 6 years of service | 23 |
| 7 years of service | 23 |
| 8 years of service | 23 |
| 9 years of service | 23 |
| 10 years of service | 25 |
| 11 years of service | 26 |
| 12 years of service | 26 |
| 13 years of service | 26 |
| 14 years of service | 26 |
| 15 years of service | 27 |
| More than 15 years of service | 27+ |
Source: Society for Human Resource Management, 2004 SHRM Benefits Survey.[2]
Differences between jurisdictions
Because there are no federal requirements in the United States, the states must each determine respective regulations for paid time off in the state labor law. Because of this, employers not only need to be aware, but also need to establish and follow a formal written policy for paid time off. Failing to formally establish paid time off policies may result in violating the state's code and the policy not being legally enforceable.
California
Vacation is legally vested per formal language in the California Labor Code. Vacation cannot be forfeited once earned, and unused balances must be paid out upon termination.
Massachusetts
Discharged (fired or laid off) employees must be paid all wages due and owing on the day of termination. The term "wages" includes all vacation time earned under the employer’s written or oral policy.
Pennsylvania
There is no Pennsylvania labor law which requires an employer to pay an employee not to work. Benefits like sick leave, vacation pay, and severance pay are payments to an employee not to be at work. Therefore, an employer only has to pay these benefits if the employer has a policy to pay such benefits or a contract with you to pay these benefits. An employer must follow its own rules for these kinds of payments.
Most states, in fact, do not require unused vacation balances to be paid out upon termination, and very few states have formal rules protecting employees from changes in the vacation policy; however, all states must comply with federal labor laws such as the Family Medical Leave Act.[5]
New York City
In January 2014, 17 days after taking office, Mayor Bill de Blasio put forward paid sick leave legislation to expand this right to more New Yorkers, including 200,000 of whom do not currently have any paid sick days. The law took effect on April 1 and apply to all workers at businesses with five or more employees, encompassing those excluded under the previous legislation that applied to businesses with 15 or more workers.[6]
