Time Off for Recruiting & Retention Purposes...

We have been getting feedback from candidates along with new and former Associates that our time off benefit may not be as plentiful as they would like. We are being told that other companies offer a minimum of three weeks of vacation with additional PTO for illness, etc. and that our offering is not competitive. 

We provide all Associates with vacation time that immediately begins accruing upon hire. Those with less than four years of service receive two weeks of time off per year, eight years of service receive three weeks and 15+ years receive four weeks. Those with less than 15 years of service can accrue up to 200 hours and 15+ can accrue up to 280 hours. Hours earned beyond those limits are lost and are not paid out. 

In addition, non-exempt Associates receive PTO of two days upon hire and five days after one year of service. The maximum that one can accrue is ten days and any hours earned beyond the limit is forfeited. These days are to be used for illness, bereavement, jury duty, personal time, etc. 

Our exempt Associates are not monitored as closely due to the nature of their roles. Our expectation is that exempt Associates will work, more weeks than not, more than a 40 hour work week and that they can adjust their schedules to allow for needed flexibility. Our exempt Associates are allowed to use up to three business days for bereavement and illness. Any time needed beyond that must be used with vacation or unpaid time. 

We are curious as to what other local companies are providing their Associates. Does your company have a separate bank of time? How much time do you offer your Associates and when does it begin? Do you reward tenure and seniority? Is your plan a use it or lose it or does it accrue like ours?  

We want to ensure that we are being competitive yet offer a comprehensive benefit offering that will entice job seekers for work for our organization and keep them for many years to come.

Any information you can provide us would be greatly appreciated. We can go into more specifics about our plan if necessary. Again, your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks ever so much!  

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  • Two weeks of PTO sounds ok for entry-level employees, but not for experienced professionals to me. If you have to start with two weeks, move up the time for accruing three weeks - eight years is way too long and not competitive for professional positions. Most of the companies that I have worked at in corporate and manufacturing organizations start with three weeks of PTO. My current company has a different PTO policy for office/professional and hourly shop manufacturing employees. Our hourly shop positions start with two weeks of PTO accrued weekly and office/professional positions start with three weeks of PTO accrued weekly for comparison. I hope that this helps!

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    • Jamie Bowling
    • Director of Human Resources
    • Jamie_Bowling
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Bonita Martin Thank you so very much for your help! I appreciate it greatly! It helps a lot! Thanks again!

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    • Penny G
    • HR Manager
    • Penny_G
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    We offer 16 days PTO (for personal, vacation, sick) that begins accruing as soon as hired; after 5 years - 20 days; after 10 years 24.  we have annual cap of PTO days that can be carried over as well - 0-5 yr = 24 days cap; 6-9 = 30 day cap; 10+ = 36 days cap; 

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