PTO Banks
jmperez
1 Post
I had a question for those of you who have opted for a PTO bank rather than designated days off (sick, vacation, etc.). I know that Washington State recently passed a law that required employers to give employees a designated number of sick days per year. I've also heard that Congress is considering passing this same thing. How do you plan on accommodating that? Is there a way that you could keep PTO banks while complying with the law? We've been considering switching to this because it seems more logical, but with the current government actions, we're not sure if this would work.
Thanks!
Comments
When I was at SHRM's Employment Law and Legislative Conference back in March, they raised the issue when they talked about federal legislation that would require employers to provide employees with a set number of paid sick or family leave days each year. The concern was how this would impact those who used PTO time or already had a system for sick days. Ideally, any legislation would deal with this issue, but I haven't looked at the Washington law.
We are located in San Francisco and we are covered by a Paid Sick Leave Ordinance. The city addressed the issue of PTO banks in a FAQ:
Q: If an employer offers Paid Time Off (PTO) or vacation days that may be used for any purpose, including sick leave, beyond the minimum accrual requirements in the Ordinance, does the employer need to offer additional paid sick leave?
A: No. If an employer has a paid leave policy, such as a PTO or vacation policy, that makes available to employees paid leave that may be used for the same purposes specified in the Ordinance (or for any purpose) and that is sufficient to meet the Ordinance’s requirements for paid sick leave accrual, then it is not required to provide additional paid sick leave. OLSE recommends that employers who implement a policy that requires employees to use PTO or vacation time when they are sick inform their employees of that requirement prior to the employees’ requested use of paid leave.