Old School or New School: Handling Time Off
Not sure how much PTO to offer your employees? First let’s look at the types of time off offered by businesses.
Traditional leave plans separate time off into different categories, such as vacation time, sick time, and personal time. Employees are allotted a specific number of days or hours for each category. The time off, which is based on length of service, must be taken for the allotted purpose.
According to a report by WorldatWork, under a traditional plan:
- employees receive an average of 23 paid leave days for 1–2 years of service.
- Long-term employees earn an average of 37 paid leave days, after 20 or more years of service.
- These totals are inclusive of vacation, sick, and personal time.
A paid time off (PTO) system does not separate leave into categories. Instead, it uses a bank-type approach, in which a certain number of days are offered (based on length of service). Allowing employees to take for various types of absences. When someone request off using PTO some employers just consider it personal time, and don’t ask for details.
The WorldatWork report shows that:
- the average PTO given for 1–2 years of service is 17 days.
- For 20 or more years of service, employees receive an average of 27 PTO days.
What Are the Pros and Cons?
Traditional leave plans generally offer employees more total leave days than PTO systems. For this reason, some job candidates and employees may be more attracted to a traditional leave plan. As long as these employees don’t need to use more vacation, sick, or personal leave than allotted, they likely won’t have a reason to complain.
But, therein lies the problem: traditional leave plans lack flexibility. For instance, if employees exhaust all of their sick days but still need to take more time for health reasons, they might not be allowed to dip into their available vacation time to cover these absences.
PTO plans are inherently flexible because the available days can be taken for any reason. On the downside, given that employees receive fewer total leave days under a PTO system, they may come to work when sick, simply to save their leave days for vacation or other preferred types of absence.
How Are They Managed and Paid Out?
Administratively, because the leave being taken does not need to be traced, a PTO system is easier and cheaper to maintain than a traditional leave plan. Therefore, managers spend less time managing their employees’ time off given that they are dealing with only one pool of time, instead of three or four separate categories.
Legislatively, some states require that employers with a PTO system pay out all unused PTO when employees leave the company. With a traditional leave plan, only the unused vacation portion may need to be paid out.
Which Is More Popular?
According to WorldatWork, traditional leave plans remain the most prevalent type of leave program, but increasing numbers of employers are shifting toward PTO bank-type systems. Furthermore, a Bloomberg BNA report concludes that although employers still prefer traditional leave plans, a considerable number of surveyed organizations have opted for PTO systems. Ultimately, it’s up to employers to select the model that best suits their organization.
If you need help weighing the benefits of these two programs, contact us today at 772-466-0440. Want to learn more about our payroll benefits here.
Copyright 2024
Why Atlantic Payroll Partners
The biggest payroll companies probably won’t have time for your business. It’s that simple, you’ll be a number. At Atlantic Payroll Partners, you’ll be the opposite. We’ll know more than your name; we’ll know the names of your children and their birthday’s as well. We will know you.
We’ve been helping Florida business by managing their payroll and providing workers' compensation quotes for ten years. We help keep payroll cost affordable by provided transparent PEO payroll quotes that allow you to plan your budget accordingly. Like the big payroll companies, you can manage your payroll and payroll timekeeping with us, while reaping the benefits of PEO risk management.
Thinking about payroll outsourcing can be scary. Make sure you know what to expect from payroll outsourcing providers; to make the best decision for your business. In addition to offering payroll, and workers' comp quote we offer: Human Resource consultations, Accounting services, and benefits such as, 401ks and Healthcare plans.
Do’s and Don’ts of Time Sheets
Do’s and don’ts of time sheets…
Like many employers today, you probably use an automated timekeeping system that lets employees clock in and out. That system could be web based or at the time clock terminal. If you’re using a manual timekeeping system, your employees complete paper time sheets, which they should then submit in time for payroll processing. Complications can arise when employees do not clock in or out or do not turn in their hours worked in a timely manner. Below are do’s and don’ts for these situations.
What You Can Do
- Be aware that under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the employer is ultimately responsible for maintaining accurate timekeeping records. As a manager, you can either track your employees’ work hours yourself or give your employees the tools to track their own time or both.
- Contact the employee to obtain the missing timekeeping data. Verbal messaging may be fastest, but if there is enough time, aim for written communication (such as email) because it gives you a paper trail.
- Determine, or estimate as best as you can, the hours worked if you cannot reach the employee. Ordinarily, you should be able to tell whether the employee worked his or her full scheduled shift. You’re also allowed to change the employee’s timekeeping data, regardless of what the employee turned in, as long as the modified information is correct.
- Discipline the employee, if applicable, for failing to follow your timekeeping procedures. Make sure any disciplinary actions you take are consistent with company policy and applied without discrimination.
What You Cannot Do
- Do not withhold the employee’s pay, as the FLSA and state wage-payment laws require employers to pay employees for all hours worked. Typically, if the employee was scheduled to work, managers can tell whether the job was done. If the work was performed, the employee must be paid accordingly. While you can discipline the employee for not abiding by your timekeeping rules, you cannot withhold pay as punishment.
- Do not overlook possible exceptions, such as telecommuting or remote work. For example, the case of Jackson v. Corrections Corporation of America shows that the burden of timekeeping isn’t always on the employer. Per the California Public Agency Labor & Employment Blog, the court held that “where a non-exempt employee is allowed to work from home; and the employer cannot practically track the employee’s hours worked, the responsibility for accurate timekeeping falls on the employee.”
The court found that Jackson failed to sufficiently prove her claim for unpaid overtime because she did not complete the time sheets her employer gave her. Nor, did she clarify the nature of the work she allegedly performed at home. However, according to the California Public Agency Labor & Employment Blog, the employer likely violated the FLSA’s record-keeping rule. The employer, didn’t keep accurate timekeeping records.
Copyright 2024
Why Atlantic Payroll Partners
The biggest payroll companies probably won’t have time for your business. It’s that simple, you’ll be a number. At Atlantic Payroll Partners, you’ll be the opposite. We’ll know more than your name; we’ll know the names of your children and their birthday’s as well. We will know you.
We’ve been helping Florida business by managing their payroll and providing workers' compensation quotes for ten years. We help keep payroll cost affordable by provided transparent PEO payroll quotes that allow you to plan your budget accordingly. Like the big payroll companies, you can manage your payroll and payroll timekeeping with us, while reaping the benefits of PEO risk management.
Thinking about payroll outsourcing can be scary. Make sure you know what to expect from payroll outsourcing providers; to make the best decision for your business. In addition to offering payroll, and workers' comp quote we offer: Human Resource consultations, Accounting services, and benefits such as, 401ks and Healthcare plans.
What are your employees thinking?
Want to know what your employees are thinking? Ask them…
Employee engagement and retention are particularly hot topics, and businesses are rushing to support it by instituting changes simply because other companies are doing it. But changing company policy on the basis of a trend may not be the best choice for your company.
Consider this example: A lot of companies jumped on the concept of open floor plans in the hopes of encouraging teamwork and collaboration. It didn’t always have the intended results. A 2018 Harvard Business School study found that open offices reduced face-to-face interaction by 70%. That’s far from what companies wanted to happen.
Engage and Retain Employees
Surveying your employees directly is a better way to determine what your company needs to do to engage and retain employees. There’s one caveat to conducting this type of survey: you need to be willing to do something with the results. You don’t have to make all the changes suggested by the survey results, but you do need to make a good faith effort respond. If the results simply go into a metaphorical circular file, they will reinforce any negative perceptions about how your company’s leaders view their employees.
Identify Your Goal
There is a process to conducting an employee survey. First, you need to decide your goal. Suppose you want to find out which perks are most important to your employees. Design survey questions to measure that. It may be best to do several surveys throughout the year with each focusing on one or two topics in areas you are ready to commit to improving.
Next, you need to decide how the survey will be conducted (e.g., SurveyMonkey or company intranet), how long the survey will be, whether anonymous responses will be allowed and whether you want to ask open-ended questions or limit the survey to yes-or-no, sliding-scale or multiple choice answers.
Gather Essential Information
Finally, you need to write questions that provide essential information. This is where the rubber meets the road. Generally, it’s a good idea to (1) limit the number of questions and (2) group your questions into categories. Here are some sample questions:
Culture:
- Is the company is living up to its mission and values?
- Do you and your co-workers all feel protected against discrimination?
- Does the company’s culture align with your personal values?
Job satisfaction:
- Are your work responsibilities clearly defined?
- Is there opportunity to grow in your job?
- Are learning opportunities readily available?
- How transparent are communications with your manager?
- Do you believe your manager treats everyone fairly?
- Do your colleagues communicate openly and freely?
- Are job-related questions treated respectfully?
- Do you get the feedback you need to continue learning and growing?
Workplace satisfaction:
- Are you satisfied with your workspace?
- Do you have the resources you need to perform at your highest level?
- Does this feel like a best place to work?
Benefits and perks:
- Do you have enough vacation time?
- Do you have an adequate number of personal/sick days?
- Rank the company’s benefits in order of preference.
Copyright 2024
Why Atlantic Payroll Partners
The biggest payroll companies probably won’t have time for your business. It’s that simple, you’ll be a number. At Atlantic Payroll Partners, you’ll be the opposite. We’ll know more than your name; we’ll know the names of your children and their birthday’s as well. We will know you.
We’ve been helping Florida business by managing their payroll and providing workers' compensation quotes for ten years. We help keep payroll cost affordable by provided transparent PEO payroll quotes that allow you to plan your budget accordingly. Like the big payroll companies, you can manage your payroll and payroll timekeeping with us, while reaping the benefits of PEO risk management.
Thinking about payroll outsourcing can be scary. Make sure you know what to expect from payroll outsourcing providers; to make the best decision for your business. In addition to offering payroll, and workers' comp quote we offer: Human Resource consultations, Accounting services, and benefits such as, 401ks and Healthcare plans.