Employees have realized the benefits of providing paid time off to employees.
This goes above and beyond the usual vacation time.
This new approach to paid time off (PTO) benefits usually combine the typical vacation benefits with other paid days off such as sick days or personal days or even holidays.
With this combined bank of time off days employees can schedule time off from work without having to specify the reasons for their absence.
Studies show that many organizations use this accumulated paid leave as a method to improve control over employee absences.
And it has been proven that time off is an effective way to measure employee time and attendance, along with other absence control measures such as, disciplinary action, verifications of illnesses or yearly performance reviews, and personal recognition programs.
Employers have also reported that the PTO benefit plan provides far better flexibility for employees in determining how to use their paid absence benefits and also helps employers to get a better grip on unscheduled absences.
A recent survey also reveals that use of PTO is most prevalent across several industries such as the health care industry.
Health care organizations with a requirement for 24 hour a day - 7 days a week staffing find that the PTO benefit plan helps to ensure better scheduling of any leave time and also minimizes unscheduled absences.
There are other PTO benefit plans that permit employees to bank/save unused days for future needs.
Other plans permit the employee to exchange unused days for a cash payout at the end of the year.
Many firms still provide a separate benefit for short term or long term disability.
With the implementation of a PTO plan, the employer's record keeping is simplified by effective time tracking.
Instead of maintaining multiple sets of records there is just one easy to use timesheet software.
One negative effects of the PTO approach for time off benefits is that an employee with numerous health related absences loses the opportunity for an extended vacation.
For the employer the downside is that by law he/she is required to pay for unused vacation time to any employee who has resigned.
This mandate extends to earned and unused vacation time but not for any sick/medical leave.
In spite of this downside, it appears that more firms are considering implementing PTO benefits for regulating all categories of time off by any employee.