Paid Time Off

[Guest Alice Back]

In October 1997 we switched from sick leave and vacation leave to Paid Time Off. Employees sick leave balances were grandfathered. Employees are allowed to use Grandfathered sick leave after 5 consecutive day of personal illness or injury. Sick Leave is no longer accrued.

PTO is accrued each pay period with carry over to the maximum allowable carryover. Once an employee meets the maximum carryover they stop accruing PTO until PTO is used. Since 1997 we are having a significant number of employees hitting their maximum on PTO and are no longer accruing PTO leave.

We are trying to address this situation so employees are not penalized for not taking Paid time off. Any suggestions?

[Guest mls]

We have a similiar plan for a group of our employees. I am not sure what your maximum hours are but you have a couple of options:

1. You could raise the maximum

2. You could offer a cash out at year end - we do 75% for non-exempt employees. You could design this the way you want - 25%, 50%,et c.

Finally, you could analyze why employees are not using their PTO. It is intended for time off which employees need from time to time. Do you let employees take off without using PTO? Our policy is to not allow an employee with paid time off to take unpaid time off. Are they using PTO for holidays? If you could analyze why there are so many high balances, that would help.

[Guest ScottN]

I don't know all of the details but I have one client that allows employees to contribute PTO, or "authorized time" in their venacular to other employees who currently are in need of additional time due to lengthier illnesses or recovery from injuries.

[Sheila K]

Just a quick plug for the "Miscellaneous Benefits" area of this board, which I moderate. We have had several discussions in this area. You may wish to post your questions there as well to get the opinions and expertise of the group that frequents that bulletin board!!

Good luck.

Sheila K