Achieve eSignature Legitimacy for Vacation Policy in United States

How to eSign a document: eSignature legitimacy for Vacation Policy in United States

do you want to keep employees on staff long term take a look at your pto in a past episode of hr party of one we covered how you can set your pto policy yet if you're like me you almost certainly have a handful of lingering questions that hr parties of one need to know to optimize your time off benefit but don't worry that's why i'm here to help in this episode i'm going to cover 10 common questions and answers that you might have about pto by the end you'll know how to make better use of your policy and even keep employees on staff today we'll cover what is pto and why do employers offer it common pto questions and answers you need to know and what else employers need to know about pto let's get into it what is pto and why do employers offer it paid time off often referred to as pto is personal time that employees take off from work while still receiving pay for regular wages pto policies can be structured in many different ways depending on a given company size structure and industry in the modern recruitment market employers need to compete to hire and retain skilled talent one way organizations stay competitive is to offer employees paid time off why a strong paid time-off policy makes an employer more attractive to current and prospective talent increasing the likelihood of hiring and retaining quality candidates pto also helps combat employee burnout increases productivity and boosts morale but there is a disconnect here american workers failed to use 768 million days of pto in 2018. we saw in 2020 that workers left almost all of their vacation days on the table per cnbc story published at the end of the year there are a ton of reasons why people decided not to take time off last year we've covered this in a past bernie portal blog which i put in the episode description for your reference but this year and moving forward you need to be more prepared to handle more requests if you're watching this video in the summer what we're about to cover is especially important vacation requests typically pick up around this time of year and headed into the holiday season so no matter if you're new to hr or a season pro let's talk through some of the most common pto faqs you need to know as you head into q3 and q4 our are employers legally required to give time off for federal holidays no private employers are not required to pay for time off on holidays but many choose to observe some of those days and pay employees to take time off as a way to boost retention but that's just the reality for employees who work for private companies most federal employers are entitled to pto on designated federal holidays are employers required by law to offer pto to employees generally no for most companies there are no federally mandated pto laws however for government contract work and federally supported contract work that falls under the mcnamara o'hara service contract act or davis bacon and related acts it may be mandatory to offer paid time off another note if an employer does offer paid leave the policy must adhere to the standards of the equal employment opportunity commission eeoc this means that an organization's pto policy can't discriminate on the basis of race color religion sex including gender identity sexual orientation and pregnancy national origin age 40 or older disability or genetic information that said employers can segment pto policies based on tenure location time commitment part-time versus full-time and other factors can an employer deny pto requests yes employers can deny pto requests for vacation time and personal time though there are some limitations to some other time off requests for example if an employer requests time off that's protected by the family and medical leave act fmla or another labor law they must grant that time off in this case though the fmla only requires unpaid leave does an employer have the right to ask why an employee wants to take off yes but the employee isn't obligated to provide a response if you feel compelled to ask for a reason you should be careful about the nature of the inquiry for example a line of questioning could infringe on an employee's right if it compels someone to reveal information protected by the american with disabilities act ada can an employer require employees to use their pto yes in general ing to sherm employers can require employees to use pto this approach is most commonly taken by organizations that operate under busy seasonal periods can employees use pto once they've put in their notice yes though employees aren't required to grant time off unless it falls under protections laid out under the fmla and other labor laws a two-week notice is a courtesy to the employer not an obligation when you train managers ideally using the manager manual we discuss in episode 78 instruct them how to handle these requests how is pto earned in most organizations pto is earned in one of four ways number one accrual pto adds up over time in an accrual approach for example employees could earn four hours of time off for every pay period with the present maximum amount each year number two pto bank a pto bank pools together sick days vacation days and personal days into a single bank of hours this means that these days aren't separated and employees can use them however they like number three lump sum this approach issues an allotment of a predetermined amount of hours or days to employees on a specific date or anniversary a common example here would be if employees receive 10 days off per year and that amount is replenished on january 1. and finally unlimited with a limited pto employees can use as much time off as needed within reason branded portal offers unlimited pto for our exempt employees and we found it's an excellent benefit with all the fuss that comes with managing hours and time off requests our employee is required by law to pay out pto when an employee departs the company no unless otherwise stipulated in an employment contract keep in mind too that this only applies at the federal level in just a little bit we'll cover state considerations that you need to know when handling pto for your team are employers required to permit pto carryover for employees no not on the federal level since most employers are not required to offer pto at all they are also not required to let accrued or leftover pto roll over into the next year can employers enforce pto blackout dates yes vacation blackouts are specific dates when employees cannot schedule time off due to an expected increase in volume or special events such as product releases or the holidays pto blackout periods are common in industries with seasonal businesses such as a retail and customer experience what else do employers need to know about pto everything that we just covered deals with federal laws and regulations it would be nearly impossible to put together a comprehensive list of every state's pto rules but i wanted to take time to share with you a few examples of how some state pto laws apply to companies within the state's borders required pto payout these laws make it mandatory to pay employees for accrued pto days that have not been used this means that employees who have used their accumulated pto can request compensation for pto days that have not been taken pto payout rate these laws decide what pay rate should be used to calculate the total payout an employer is responsible for paying an employee for instance some states require employers to calculate payout based on the employee's pay rate at the time of termination paid sick leave in a few states including arizona california and massachusetts employers are required to offer paid sick leave to qualifying employees while all of these jurisdictions require some form of paid sick leave sick laws may vary based on factors such as employee type eligible employees and rate of paid sick day accrual check if your city county and or state requires paid sick leave using the resource i dropped in the episode description be sure to look at your states city and county's websites for specifications paid family leave paid family leave is paid leave for employees needing to take care of family members for medical purposes including the birth or adoption of a child like paid sick leave laws these laws can also vary depending on the jurisdiction variations may include employee type employer size employee classification private public government medical assistant type and leave care recipients remember that these are only a few examples of how state time off laws can be more restrictive than federal ones if you aren't compliant with state pto laws you will be held to the legal standards of that state the good news is that there are solutions to keep you organized pto tracking platforms like the one included in bernie portal make it simple for hr and managers to manage time-off benefits our system can be accessed anywhere at any time can be customized to fit your company's policy provides self-service functionality automatically calculates accrual and even includes a handy calendar for managers to keep track of who's out for the day all right now some homework we covered a lot of things in this episode before i let you go i want to encourage you to consider conducting a ptl audit if you haven't recently we explained how you can make that happen in episode number 37 so check that out if you have a chance finally if you find yourself struggling to keep up with pto requests and questions this summer and fall make sure to update your culture guide if you have one bernie portal's pto policy is laid out in detail and answers many of the questions we just covered when employees have questions you can direct them to the culture guide saving time for yourself and your managers employees naturally have a better understanding of your pto policy if it's clearly communicated and easily available for review when your managers are empowered to answer the questions we just covered they can better manage time off requests that come their way this fair application of the policy leads to a higher likelihood that people use this benefit the result employees are better engaged energized and more motivated to stick around that's all for this episode as always please subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notifications about the latest hr party of one updates and new episodes and remember that your job is as strategic as you make it [Applause] you