Once upon a time it was the norm for employers to offer separate paid time off benefits to employees, differentiating sick leave from personal days and paid vacation. Today, however, a growing number of organizations have moved to a more flexible paid time off (PTO) benefit that incorporates all policies into one all-inclusive plan.
With so many employees either working from home full-time or in a hybrid set-up, the line between work and home life has become increasingly blurry. And recruiting and hiring has become extremely competitive. So, making the right choices when it comes to creating a time off policy has never been more important. Finding a way to incentivize employees to take much-needed time away from work can help prevent burnout and boost engagement long-term. In fact. 77% of full-time employees say that taking a vacation is important to job satisfaction (Destination Analysts).
The debate continues as to whether employers benefit from offering PTO versus separate vacation, sick and personal leave plans. In some instances, state law dictates what an employer can offer because there are legal obligations attached to it, such as:
- If an employer can have a “use it or lose it” policy
- If vacation time is considered to be earned wages
- If vacation wages must be paid out upon termination
- If an employer’s policy sets the rules for vacation and PTO
In any case, it’s important for an employer to be clear on their PTO policy while staying within the law. Here are some key differences as well as of the pros and cons to consider before offering employees an all-in-one singular PTO policy.
Advantages of a PTO Policy
The terms PTO and vacation often are used interchangeably by employees, but they’re not actually the same thing. PTO is any time an employee is getting paid while away from work—it’s more all-encompassing than “vacation.” Think of it like this: all vacation is PTO while not all PTO is vacation. Some examples of PTO include parental leave, jury duty, sick leave, holiday pay, or disability leave.
Advantages to PTO programs include:
- Increased flexibility for employees.
- Reduced incentive to lie about being sick or having a doctor’s appointment to use allocated sick days, resulting in a more honest and transparent employer/employee relationship.
- One type of time off to track for managers and HR, as opposed to separately tracking hours for vacation, sick, and personal days.
Research consistently shows that incorporating a PTO policy will result in employees taking more vacation time and fewer sick days. This benefits employers in two ways. First, employers typically receive more notice about scheduled vacations and can plan for adequate coverage. Second, employees return to work more refreshed and productive following vacation leave, which generally doesn’t happen if they’re using sick days.
Free Template
Does your company have a clear PTO policy? Establish guidelines for PTO with this sample policy.
Let Paycor Help with Time Off Management
When it comes to managing time off for employees, one-by-one approvals is not the way to go. Avoid the headaches of managing time off manually with Paycor’s Time Off Advisor. Simply add your company’s PTO policy to the system to create time off approval and denial workflows. Employee requests will be automatically approved according to rules and you will receive prompt notifications for requests that need your intervention, enabling you to maintain control of your time off process.
Disadvantages of a PTO Policy
There are a few potential downsides (depending on how you look at it) to creating a PTO bank that HR professionals should keep in mind.
- Employees will most likely use all of their PTO whereas personal and/or sick days may be left unused.
- Employees tend to save all their PTO for vacations and come to work when they’re sick—now, more than ever, it’s crucial this isn’t the case.
- In some states, accrued (yet unused) PTO must be paid to the employee upon the last day of work, but unused sick/personal time doesn’t.
Is Unlimited PTO a Good Idea for Companies?
When there’s tough competition for talent like we’re experiencing today, business leaders may be tempted by the idea of offering unlimited PTO as a way to attract high-quality candidates. After all, what could be better than unlimited days off work, right? Well, despite how dreamy it sounds, the reality is that workers who are offered unlimited vacation time rarely take more than other employees.
If you are considering an unlimited PTO policy, you should remember a couple things. First, such a benefit isn’t a good fit for nonexempt employees whose paid time is governed by wage and hour laws and who are paid overtime for working more than 40 hours a week. Second, in states where an employer is required by law to pay an employee a monetary amount equivalent to the amount of unused vacation time upon their last day of work, it would be impossible to determine an “unused” amount of time.
Unlimited time off might also cause issues with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which requires employers to allow available paid leave to run simultaneously with an employee’s FMLA leave. If there’s no limit to paid time off, does that mean an employee’s entire 12-week FMLA leave will be paid?
Time Away from Work is Good
Whatever sort of vacation, sick, or PTO policy you implement in the workplace, be sure to encourage your employees to use it. Create a culture that supports time off—make sure managers lead by example and take vacation days. Eliminate the guilt factor by showing a true interest in where employees travel (ask questions, look at photos). Perhaps even pay your employees to go on vacation by offering a financial incentive to be used for flights, hotels, or food.
Paycor Can Help
Don’t let your team be one of the 55% of U.S. workers who leave unused PTO on the table at the end of the year (U.S Travel Association). With Paycor’s online time and attendance software, employees can request time off, see how much PTO they’ve accrued, and easily access employer PTO policies. But that’s just the beginning. Employees can also clock in and out, manage their schedules, and view pay stubs, all while on the go.
