Studies show that the majority of workers would prefer benefits such as paid time off (PTO) over a pay raise. Learn the benefits of having a generous PTO policy and how you can provide additional PTO for employees in your small business.
Companies with Generous PTO Policies
Twitter provides 10 holidays and unlimited PTO for its employees. Workers assess their individual mental and physical needs and work with managers on taking time off with pay.
Software company VMware also offers unlimited PTO so that workers have a work-life integration. Employees and managers work together on deciding who takes off when.
CarMax offers unlimited PTO for salaried employees through their Time Away program. Employees are encouraged to improve their health and well-being by spending time doing what makes them happy. All workers are given six holidays as well.
Cisco provides up to 30 days of vacation, with 20 days of PTO, plus 16 hours of floating holidays for employees. The company also closes down at the end of the year so that workers can completely disconnect.
Global consulting firm Protiviti provides a Choice Time Off policy that includes 20 – 30 sick, vacation, and personal days off based on the length of time an employee has been with the company. Ten-year employees receive 40 days off, including holidays. Workers also get sabbaticals and paid parental leave.
Mayo Clinic employees take off 23 – 38 PTO days annually, depending on how long they’ve been with the organization. Holiday, vacation, and sick time are included in one account. PTO hours may be traded for cash as well.
Benefits of PTO
When companies invest more in PTO, their employees gain a better work-life balance. Because workers have the privilege of taking time off for rest and rejuvenation, they are more likely to be happier, healthier, and productive at work. Paying employees to spend time with their family and friends and take care of personal business when needed makes workers feel like valued, respected, and appreciated members of your organization. As a result, employees show up on time for work, engage more deeply in their tasks, and achieve company goals consistently. Because your workers remain loyal to your company longer, you save money on hiring and training new employees, and you decrease your costs for health insurance.
Scaling Down for Small Businesses
Although small business owners cannot afford unlimited PTO for employees, there are ways you can implement additional vacation days into your policies. You might increase the number of vacation and sick days for each year an employee remains with your company. Perhaps you’ll let PTO days accumulate over the years so that more can be used at one time. You may even be able to let groups of workers with higher positions have more PTO than others.
Creating the right employee vacation and holiday package is one key to increasing productivity. For further help with streamlining your business tasks, contact the trained staff at Innovative Employee Solutions today!
