Paid Time Off (PTO) is an all purpose time-off policy for eligible employees to use for vacation, illness or injury, and personal business. It combines traditional vacation and sick leave plans into one flexible, paid time-off policy. Employees in the following employment classification(s) are eligible to earn and use PTO as described in this policy:
• Regular full-time employees
Once employees enter an eligible employment classification, they begin to earn PTO according to the
schedule below. However, before PTO can be used, a waiting period of 90 calendar days must be
completed. After that time, employees can request use of earned PTO including that accrued during the
waiting period.
The amount of PTO employees receives each year increases with the length of their employment as
shown in the following schedule:
• Upon initial eligibility the employee is entitled to 24 PTO days each year, accrued semimonthly at
the rate of 1 day.
• After 3 years of eligible service the employee is entitled to 29 PTO days each year, accrued
semimonthly at the rate of 1.208 days.
The length of eligible service is calculated on the basis of a “calendar year.” This is the 12-month period that begins when the employee starts to earn PTO. An employee’s calendar year may be extended for any significant leave of absence except military leave of absence. Military leave has no effect on this calculation. (See individual leave of absence policies for more information.) PTO can be used in minimum increments of one-half day.
Employees who have an unexpected need to be absent from work should notify their direct supervisor before the scheduled start of their workday, if possible. The direct supervisor must also be contacted on each additional day of unexpected absence. To schedule planned PTO, employees should request advance approval from their supervisors. Requests will be reviewed based on a number of factors, including business needs and staffing requirements. PTO is paid at the employee’s base pay rate at the time of absence. It does not include overtime or any special forms of compensation such as incentives, commissions, bonuses, or shift differentials. In the event that available PTO is not used by the end of the calendar year, employees may carry unused time forward to the next calendar year.
If the total amount of unused PTO reaches a “cap” (the annual PTO amount) further accrual will stop. When the employee uses PTO and brings the available amount below the cap, accrual will begin again. Upon termination of employment, employees will forfeit any unused PTO that has been earned through the last day of work.