By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR Editor, HR Daily Advisor
Just My E-pinion
The advantages of undesignated paid time off for employers include reduced tracking hassles and no more wondering about sick-leave abuse. Many employers also find that PTO is an important strategic recruiting tool, and they find it to be just as successful for employee retention.
Unfortunately, the bad sometimes comes along with the good. Some employees on PTO will take amore time than they did before. And then there are the sick employees who won't take time off, because they don't want to burn "vacation time."
Are You a PTO Organization? If So, How Is It Working Out?
For years, BLR has surveyed employee benefits to find out what HR and benefits professionals saw in the preceding year and what they were expecting in the coming year. This year, we are expanding that program by conducting a series of brief, targeted benefits surveys. The findings of these surveys will be analyzed and presented free to all respondents.
Today's Topic: Paid Time Off
Take this brief survey and see how your existing practices and future plans stack up against the country's most successful companies. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete, and it will help you stay on top of your industry and keep your organization competitive.
Complete the Paid Time Off Survey Now
By sharing your insight, opinions, and experience, you'll help us highlight trends and define benchmarks—by industry, geographic location, and size of employer—that will inform your decision making for the coming year. At the same time, you'll gain a highly valuable strategic planning tool that will help ensure that your company is offering competitive benefits.
Rest assured that all responses are confidential and only aggregate findings will be published.
Thank you for your valued input.
P.S. Here are some upcoming employee benefit surveys:
Evil HR Lady: Are Some Women Just Too Delicate For the Workplace? A recent article on our HR.BLR.com website prompted quite a response by Suzanne Lucas who blogs as Evil HR Lady. "Oh, cry me a river" she said over suggestions that employers take steps to ameliorate off-site harassment of female employees.
ADAAA Effective Tomorrow—Ready for Its 9 Rules of Construction? The final regulations issued by the EEOC implement the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (the ADAAA) are effective tomorrow, May 24. The new regs feature 9 "Rules of Construction" to help employers determine whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity.
Gays and Lesbians Are Not in a Protected Class ... or Are They? Title VII does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, individuals who identify as gays, lesbians, or transgendered have successfully asserted claims of discrimination under Title VII.
Social NOTworking: Preventing Social Media Abuse People are now spending more time on social media sites than on e-mail, says attorney Jody Katz Pritikin, and a lot of that time is being spent at work. In today's Advisor, Pritikin shows how to manage the new steamroller of social media.
Bottom Line Impact for Flex Programs In a previous Advisor, we featured Ellen Galinsky's imperatives for workplace flexibility. In today's issue—specific examples of flex programs that are paying off for employers, and an introduction to a unique guide just for smaller or even one-person HR departments.
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