Paid Time Off a Great Perk for Companies and Working Parents

As a former school teacher, my time off consisted of X number of days of sick leave and X number of days of personal time.

If I were not sick or going to a doctor's appointment, I was supposed to use the personal time to take a day off. And the rules were fairly well spelled out - advanced notice had to be given and lesson plans left behind.

If I came down with the flu, my children got sick or I had to have surgery, sick leave was granted. This type of leave didn't need prior approval; I could call in at the last minute and take a day.

But 5-7 sick days a year, when you have children (especially more than one child) is sometimes not enough. As we know, newborns have routine appointments up until one year, and most children I know end up with numerous ear infections, viruses or other maladies within the first four or so years of the life, especially when they begin preschool. What happens when a mother runs out of sick days and is only left with personal days?  In some instances, she has to take off without pay, which is never a good situation.

Robin Russo, president of Robin Leedy & Associates, first heard of Paid Time Off (PTO) from her daughter, who worked for a large clothing manufacture. Russo used the standard sick, personal, and religious holidays for time off days, but found it became too complicated when someone came up to her in the middle of the day requesting to go home because a child was sick and needed help.

Says Russo, "In a small company it can be problematic, since one person's absence can mean that others have to cover for the person out and how do you say yes to one and not the other, etc. I always felt in a bind balancing the needs of the company with staff personal problems that I really didn't need to know about."

So Russo did what any great business owner does when something is not working - she made some changes. Rather than allot a set number of personal and sick days to employees, she gave them a bank of days - when these days are gone, they are gone. Not only does it make it easier for employees to take a day, regardless of the reason, but it saves the employee from coming to Russo to explain situations that might better be left personal.

So far, PTO seems to be working for Russo. Though started less than a year ago, her staff seems to like it well and the office manager has found that PTO may be gaining in popularity.

"I like it because I don't have to make a judgement about whether a school trip is more important that the sniffles or an unscheduled doctor appointment or wedding rehearsal. Plus, some staff don't have children yet, so it can seem out of whack if parental issues take precedence over 'single' issues," Russo explains.

While some companies report that PTO abuse does occur, it often depends on how the PTO days are handled and how much input and information the company's president/CEO or leaders have about the policy and the days employees are taking.

For instance, handling and tracking PTO can become problematic in the bookkeeping phase, since many times PTOs are tracked manually and can be time consuming. Other companies have tried to handle PTO using the honor system approach, where an employee takes some time off and is supposed to report that time off; at times, this reporting doesn't happen.

But those employers who set up the PTO policy carefully, and who account for issues such as tracking each employee's days and having an easy system that allows for employees to take a day without overwhelming the bookkeeping staff, may find that employees actually take less time off than they would if they were given the standard sick and personal days.

And for the working parent, this system can work very well. Gone are the days you have to fear that you have only one sick day left, three months to work, and flu season quickly approaching.

Is your company using PTO? If so, how is it working for you?