The company I work for finally made a decision regarding our sick and vacation time. They are going the PTO route, which I like, but there are still some parts of it I'm not totally thrilled with. If we leave the company none of it is paid out, where before someone quit or got laid off they'd get paid any unused vacation time. When I first learned of this possible change to PTO my boss said they would probably allow a certain percentage of it to be paid out, if you left the company. Not that I'm planning to leave, but I know this will make those that are try to use up their time off before they leave, since it's a use it or lose it deal now. I've seen that with other companies I've worked at over the years. Guess it does send out a signal that someone might be leaving....
At my current rate of annual vacation plus our 7 days of sick leave, my new combined yearly PTO will be 22 days/176 hours. We will only be allowed to ever have a maximum of 216 hours on the books, so for me only a one week "cushion", should I ever need to use a lot of sick time. For those that are only earning 1 or 2 weeks vacation a year, they are still allowed to accrue up to a maximum of 216. Those earning vacation at a lesser rate than myself can have more of a cushion and not take all their vacation, each year if they don't want to. I won't have that option.
That all being said - my unused sick leave through the end of September is 42 hours, so I have decided to bank the time and add it to my PTO, rather than taking the bonus of $525 ($100 per every 8 hrs). 42 hours is worth a lot more pay-wise than $525 and I'll have that added cushion of time off built in now, should I need it for anything down the road. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions earlier on what I should do with this time.
I agree! It's nice to have those hours "just in case"!
ReplyDeleteI misunderstood the maximum allowed to accrue - it's 80 hours over whatever you normally accrue, so I could have up to 256 hours on the books, so that is good.
ReplyDeleteMy husband never take any time off. He is rarely sick and builds up vacation so quickly he is an office joke. But when someone is really sick, or has a really sick loved one hubby can donate up to two weeks sick time to them. He is very popular then. I agree with your decision.
ReplyDeletewe have a guy like that at our office - they have to force him to take a day off every once in awhile! I really like that sick donation deal, especially for companies where you can accrue unlimited sick time. When DH's best friend got cancer and couldn't work quite a few people where he worked donated some of their unused sick time. That was so nice and sure helped him and his wife out.
DeleteI think its like money in the bank! Awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe way I figure it, since we can only save up 2 weeks over our annual earned, I already have one week on the books. Now that 15 days vacation and 7 sick days a year are combined, if I just use 15 days vacation this next year and bank another week to save for sick, I'll have my 2 weeks of cushion always there and then after next year the full 22 days of PTO I earn a year can all be used for vacation if I want, every year after that. I have 3 more years until my 10th anniversary and as long as 2 of the owners still have their condo in Hawaii I get a free trip to Hawaii as a gift. On my 15th anniversary I get another week of vacation :)
ReplyDeleteThere should be some genuine paid time off as per your company policies. You should check which one works for you. :)
ReplyDelete