Spiritually Out of Office

Are your employees getting enough time off? Is there accountability for time off? Balancing the PTO paradox is a huge struggle and huge expense for business owners. Choosing a plan that keeps your business running while attracting top employees is often a delicate decision. Here are the top things to consider when making a choice:

1. PTO vs Sick Time

Most corporations have moved to a “paid-time off” policy vs a vacation and sick time accrual The benefit is pretty straight forward- less tracking. You don’t need employees calling, pretending to be sick when they really just wanted to extend their vacation by a day. Are you really collecting doctor’s notes? Paid-time off just means, take time, I don’t need to know why. Easy. Less tracking and employees don’t have to be sneaky. 

2. FlexTime

Another popular new model is unlimited “flextime”. Essentially, employees can take as much time as they want for whatever reason. Sometimes it is paired with blackout dates or request date drops where the time off is approved on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

This can be an interesting perk for top talent. However, if it is almost impossible for an employee to take time off or if they can’t actually get the day off when they are sick or want to attend their sister’s wedding, it works against you. 

3. Rollover and Accrual

As a small business owner, each employee plays an important role. If an employee were to save up their time-off and take a month off, would you be prepared? You can also be responsible for playing this time to the employee when they leave.

Likewise, do employees earn 2 hours every 3 months or some other ridiculous accrual? You might as well tell the employees that you only want them to work for you for less than 2 years because a completely useless accrual of time off works like a charm for telling employees they are not important.

4. How do you account for those miscellaneous hours?

A flexible schedule is one of the hardest dynamics between an employee, an owner, and the rest of the staff. Do moms get the most flexibility? How is that equal for the young man with no kids? How can you ensure the job still gets done?

Some employees need to be on a shorter leash. They will disappear any chance they get. However, other employees may NEVER come in late leaving you to wonder if they even go to the dentist? My favorite measure is… does their job get done? If another employee is filling in for them, the answer is NO! Are they making a habit of it? Is it fair to the other employees? If Joanna leaves early everyday to pick up her kids but then works from home the rest of the afternoon, that may be fine most days, but if it means Sarah can’t pick up her kids or that Ken can’t go to an appointment because there isn’t coverage, Joanna isn’t fulfilling her obligations to the business. 

There isn’t one perfect answer for what works in your business. It depends on culture, the scope of work, and your employees. Things to consider:

1. Your Culture

Are you laid back, family oriented, love to travel? You are probably attracting people who match your work style so you can’t be surprised when employees ask for time away from the office.

2. Scope of Work

If you run a restaurant, doctor’s office, or daycare, employees need to show up. While everyone has emergencies, emphasizing the importance of having employees “checked in” when they are at work is vital. Can you have employees work remotely when necessary? Then do that! 

3. Your Employees

Close your eyes. You have a major project coming up. It can mean big things for your business but has a lot of moving parts. It means meeting certain deadlines and possibly several rewrites as the project progresses. You will need to assign an employee who can do the research and fill gaps to meet customer expectations. Are you picturing which employee you would give that to? Can you picture who you wouldn’t give that project to? Open your eyes and know which employee you can trust with a little more flexibility and which one needs to be in the office to be productive.

The most important rule about time off is choosing a policy and sticking with it. The plan needs to be clearly outlined and not applied or changed whenever an employee asks. Time off is part of an employee’s benefits package and should be reviewed along with pay and performance, if employees think they can get a choice of when to work, you will lose accountability. If employees feel like the availability of time off is a moving target, you will lose engagement.