PTO policy as it relates to exempt EE's

steveg

I seem to be dead locked with the DOL folks who either don't want to give me a straight answer or don't know which one to give me. SO, that having been said I'll turn once again to my learned HR professionals for advice.

We have a PTO policy which I believe to be a bona fide plan. We offer three sick/personal days each year with an increasing allotment of vacation days each year depending upon your longevity.

Once all of the PTO days are used up it is my belief we can deduct salary for missed days (full ones) from the pay of exempt EE's without making them exhaust their vacation time prior to the deduction.

I know we can deduct full days away from work if they have not yet accrued the time based on their hire date, and I know we can deduct for full days in the event they exhaust their three days AND all of their vacation pay. BUT - do we have to make them use up all of their vacation pay before we deduct full days assuming they have used up their three personal/sick days which, by the way, we refer to as "flex" days and not sick or personal days.

stilldazed

My guess is that the detail will be in your policy or the way your PTO/vacation plan is written. If the plan describes that the two are separate and cannot be traded for use in the others circumstances, you are probably fine in not charging the vacation bank for sick days. If your policy/plan doesn't include that stipulation, you should probably play it safe and review the plan for a possible rewrite.

Maybe an alternative would be to call all time PTO and not distinguish 'PTO' from 'vacation' for recordkeeping/tracking purposes.