Good Boundaries to Make for Good PTO Policies

Marques, an associate in the New York office of Holland & Knight LLP, offered her PTO tips at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR® and HR Hero®.

• Make sure that all parts of the company are on the same page. Payroll, posted policies, and employment handbooks should all agree, says Marques.
• Make sure the payroll system can account for accruing PTO time.
• Avoid individually negotiating different benefits from the established policy. All peer employees should be getting roughly the same benefits. Sometimes, new candidates negotiate that they want what they had at their old job, and the temptation is to say, OK, that’s fair, but try not to do that, Marques advises.
• Make sure that supervisors are well-trained to address abuse of the PTO system before it gets out of control. Remember that they are not HR professionals, but they still have to deal with these issues, says Marques.
• Be consistent to avoid claims of discrimination with sticky issues like religious holidays, disabilities, or other disparate treatment where employees can claim that they are being treated differently because of membership in protected categories, different childcare responsibilities, age, etc.

Boundaries for Paid Time Off

Make sure your supervisors are aware of wage and hour issues concerning employees who are out on leave.

For example, says Marques, be careful about calling or e-mailing workers who are on vacation. They may claim that they are due wages or they are due back the day off. (You might say, “I’m just sending this now, I don’t expect you to act on it until next week when you are back to work.”)

Also be aware of remote access, which can create similar problems, Marques says.

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State Leave Law Topics

Pay particular attention to state laws, says Marques. They may have provisions concerning such areas as:

• Time to vote
• Bone marrow donor
• Family medical leave
• Jury duty
• Military leave
• Sexual assault or domestic violence victim

Watch Out for Furloughs

Private employers need to be careful with exempt employees, says Marques. Under federal law, an employer may establish weeklong furlough periods in which no work is done by exempt employees for the entire week. However, these periods may not be a means to evade the minimum salary test.

Only under certain circumstances may long-term furlough plans that reduce exempt work schedules be lawful, and the minimum salary test must still be met for exempt workers, cautions Marques.

For hourly employees, watch for eligibility for unemployment on a weekly basis, says Marques.

Furloughs—just one more of the numerous wage and hour challenges all comp pros face. Wage and hour should be simple, but it’s just not. Complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is one of the most confusing and challenging things comp managers have to do. How can you tell if they are doing it right?

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