PTO due to illness during PTO-Prohibited periods

[Guest Dan F]

For PTO policies, that group all absences together (no distinction between sick, vacation, etc.), how do you deal with clauses that prohibit PTO during certain busy times of the year? What about illnesses, etc? I am for the a day off is a day off no matter the reason, but am now stuck on how to deal with absences (due to illness, accident, etc.) during PTO-prohibited time (meant to curb vacations).

Also, how to deal with notification for planned time off like vacations - when the various PTO are all grouped together, doesn't this make that requirement more difficult also?

Thanks for the help.

Dan

[Sheila K]

Dan:

Before PTO, you could cancel all vacation time planned for busy periods. But you still couldn't do much about people calling in sick during that time. Once you have made the switch to PTO, not much changes in that arena. If an employee calls in sick, there is probably not a whole lot you can do.

I'm not sure what your policy is about "unscheduled" PTO time currently. We require a dr. note if the employee is out for three consecutive days. Could you tighten up this type of requirement during "busy periods" to require a note for only one day??? You would have to consider any ADA/FMLA restrictions as well.

As for your second question, I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for. Could you provide more detail to that question?

[Guest Dan F]

Sheila,

Thanks for your reply. Both the first and second question were kind of based on the same thing - when grouping all PTO time together and not distinguishing between sick, vacation, etc., is it then harder to justify, or require, notice of vacations... versus a day off here and there for "personal reasons" or illness (neither of which are usually ever precipitated by notice)?

I ask because I know what my accountant, who does the payroll, is going to say, "You are grouping all PTO together but then still treating sick time off different from vacation time off - in asking for notice prior to vacation time (which can't be done for sick time) or not allowing vacation during busy season but obviously not prohibiting someone from getting sick (and letting them take that day as paid) during this time."

At least I assume you'd still pay someone, if they wanted to use their accrued PTO, for a sick day during the busy vacation-banned period(s)... though that was part of the first part of my original question.

Thanks again.

Dan

[Sheila K]

Dan:

I think you'd have some MAJOR problems if you didn't pay these folks for PTO during the PTO-prohibited periods. Sounds like you don't have a policy in place for requesting PTO time in advance. Maybe that is the sticking point. As we implemented our PTO policy, we also began our new attendance program. This program differentiates between "scheduled" and "unscheduled" PTO time. Due to the nature of our business (financial institution), we generally require 2 weeks notice before a scheduled PTO day or days.

I think this is the piece that you are missing. It IS very difficult if you are still thinking vacation & sick time instead of scheduled or unscheduled PTO. If you use this type of definition, then your busy time policy is "No scheduled PTO", and if you want to tighten up the requirements for unscheduled PTO (a la doc's note) you could do that as well.

Hope that helps. If you'd like a copy of our attendance policy, please let me know, I'd be happy to post it.

[Guest Dan F]

That would help - your attendance policy.

Thanks Sheila.

[Sheila K]

ATTENDANCE

Policy Guidelines

All employees are expected to maintain satisfactory attendance. Unscheduled absences and tardiness burden co-workers, disrupt business operations and reduce the quality of member service.

Notification

Employees who are unable to report to work as scheduled are required to adhere to the following notification process:

 Employee is to personally notify their supervisor prior to the start of the workday.

 If the supervisor cannot be reached, contact the person the supervisor has designated.

 The HRD department would be third in the notification process if an employee were not able to notify either the supervisor or designated contact.

 Failure to make notification within 30 minutes after the employee’s scheduled start time may make an employee ineligible for any type of paid leave for that absence. Leaving a voice mail message or having someone call for the employee, unless an employee is physically unable to make the telephone call, does not satisfy this requirement. Employees who will be absent for more than one day or for an indefinite period of time may be required to call their supervisor every day of the absence, unless excused by the supervisor.

 Employees who are absent and fail to follow the notification guidelines will be counseled. A second incident of absence without proper notification will result in a written warning letter. A third incident will result in a two-day suspension without pay. Further instances may result in termination of employment.

 Any employee absent without notification for three consecutive days is considered to have resigned voluntarily.

Absenteeism and Tardiness

An occurrence of absenteeism is defined as the failure to report to work on any scheduled workday, even though the employee has reported the absence.

Corrective action will be taken for absenteeism based on the frequency of occurrences. Consecutive days will be recorded as “one occurrence”.

Corrective action will be administered as follows:

 Employees are counseled regarding their attendance at three occurrences within a 12-month period. If no unscheduled absence has taken place 60 days following the third occurrence, the employee’s record of unscheduled absences will be reduced from three occurrences to two occurrences.

 A written warning letter is issued at five occurrences within a 12-month period. The employee record will be cleared of an occurrence. If no unscheduled absence has taken place 60 days following the fifth occurrence, the employee’s record of unscheduled absences will be reduced from five occurrences to four occurrences.

 The PTO and RSB accrual will be stopped for six consecutive pay periods following a seventh occurrence within a 12-month period.

 Disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment may occur when twelve occurrences have taken place within a 12-month period.

 Repeated late arrivals and/or early departures may result in corrective action up to and including termination of employment.

 Discernable patterns of absence or tardiness (e.g., Monday, Fridays or absence in conjunction with holidays) may result in corrective action up to and including termination.

Note: Absences due to funeral leave, military obligation, jury duty or work-incurred injury will not be recorded as an occurrence of absenteeism for the purposes of corrective action.

FMLA and ADA. Absences taken in accordance with the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar leaves will be treated according to the terms of those Acts.

Rev. 3/11/2000