Unlimited Off Survey

8/8/2019 Unlimited Off Survey

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A Survey of WorldatWork Members

May 2010

Paid Time Off

Programs and Practices

re

sea

rch


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2010 WorldatWork Any laws, regulations or other legal requirements noted in this publication are, to the best of the publishers knowledge, accurate and current

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No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without express written permission from WorldatWork.

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About WorldatWork

The Total Rewards Association

WorldatWork (www.worldatwork.org) is a global human resources association focused

on compensation, benefits, work-life and integrated total rewards to attract, motivate

and retain a talented workforce. Founded in 1955, WorldatWork provides a network

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Paid Time Off Programs and Practices

Introduction and Methodology

Organizations are regularly faced with the evaluation of various paid time off programs. Traditional

paid time off systems separate time-off categories between vacation, sick, personal time etc.

Managers and total rewards professionals are subsequently obligated to track employees time off

and the reasons for their absences. Many employers are instead adopting a paid time off (PTO) bank

giving the employee a cumulative number of paid days off that employees use as they wish for sick

days, vacation and/or other personal needs. WorldatWork conducted a survey to examine the

prevalence and practice of various paid time off programs in the United States to better understand

the practices of organizations with either PTO-bank style or traditional systems (e.g. vacation time,

sick time, personal days, etc.). This report summarizes the survey on paid time off programs.

On Feb. 17, 2010 WorldatWork successfully e-mailed 6,735 survey invitations to WorldatWork

members working as benefits specialists and some randomly selected members. The survey closed

on March 5, 2010 with 1,222 responses, an 18% response rate. This survey was intended to assess

paid time off practices in the United States only. Responses received from members outside theUnited States were removed, resulting in a final dataset of 1,036 responses.

In order to provide the most accurate data possible, data was cleaned and analyzed using statistical

software. Any duplicate records were removed. Outlier responses were analyzed and if considered

extreme, were removed from the analysis. Data comparisons with any relevant, statistically significant

differences are noted with this report.1

The demographics of the survey sample and the respondents are similar to the WorldatWork

membership as a whole2. The typical WorldatWork member works at the managerial level or higher in

the headquarters of a large company in North America.

The frequencies of response distributions listed in the report show the number of times or percentage

of times a value appears in a data set. Due to rounding, frequencies of data responses provided in

this survey may not total exactly 100%.

1Levels of significance considered in this report are 5% (0.05), 1% (0.01) and 0.1% (0.001). The statistically significant

differences observed in this report are based on statistical testing measuring frequencies reported (percentages) anddetermining that the percentage difference has less than a 5% likelihood of occurring as the result of chance (p< 0.05). Theformula for determining statistical significance depends on not only the number of occurrences (percentage) but also thenumber of participants in each group. A lack of statistical significance suggests we cannot definitively conclude that thedifference is not the result of chance. If a percentage difference is not statistically significant this is not a reflection of dataintegrity or validity. Similarly, a result that is statistically significant used in this context should not be considered to be moremeaningful or important, it should only serve to represent that the difference has less than a 5% likelihood of occurring as theresult of chance.2Comparison of organization size between the respondent sample for this report and membership as a whole revealed a

statistically significant difference at the organization size, less than 100 employees (5% vs. 12%). (See Figure 35).


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Executive Summary

WorldatWork first conducted this survey in 2002 to measure the degree of transition to PTO bank-type

systems in a world where traditional systems had been prevalent. Since then, the usage of traditional

paid time off systems is at its lowest point, although still higher than PTO bank-type systems. The

slight increase in reports of other types of paid time off systems (which includes unlimited leave

programs as well as companies who have both PTO bank-type and traditional systems implemented)

may be contributing to the finding that traditional systems are decreasing in usage at a rate faster than

the growth in PTO bank-type systems.

Traditional Systems Still Most Common, but Growth in PTO Bank-Type Systems

Continues3

A traditional paid time off system continues to be used by the majority of organizations;

however, fewer organizations are using a traditional system in 2010 (54%) when compared to

2006 (63%) and 2002 (71%). The adoption of the PTO bank-type system has increased

steadily between 2002 and 2010 as shown below and in Figure 1.

71%

63%

54%

28%

33%

40%

1%4%

6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2002 2006 2010

Traditional system with vacation time, sick time, personal time

PTO bank-type systemOther

4

3For traditional plans 2010 was statistically significantly lower than both 2006 and 2002. The only significant difference noted

when comparing the adoption of the PTO bank-type system between years was an increase between 2002 and 2010.While percentage differences may seem similar between the systems from year-to-year, testing revealed only the significantdifferences noted.4The Other category for 2010 (6%) includes the 1% from the category My company offers unlimited leave.

4

Trends in Paid Time Off Systems: Surveys Conducted in 2002, 2006 and 2010


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WorldatWorkPaid Time Off Programs and Practices 2010

3

Very Large Organizations Favor Traditional Systems. Employers with more than 20,000

employees show greater use of traditional systems over PTO banks than smaller

organizations. (See Figure 2.)

Health-Care Industry Strongly Prefers PTO Bank-Type System. The health-care and social

assistance industry is the only industry to show a preference for PTO bank systems 80% of

respondents in this industry have a PTO bank-type system in place. (See Figure 3.) Traditional System May Offer Slightly More Total Paid Time Off. Although an apples-to-

apples comparison is difficult the findings indicate that overall, traditional programs probably

offer employees slightly more paid time off on an annual basis. (See Figures 5 and 18.) 5

Note: 25th

, 50th

, and 75th

represent the 25th

, 50th

and 75th

percentiles, respectively.

PTO Bank-Type Systems

Most Common Required Uses Are Vacation, Sick Days and Personal Days. Time off for

vacation (100%), illnesses (90%) and personal days (98%) most often require the use of PTO

bank time. Separate bereavement and jury duty programs continue to be prevalent even with a

PTO bank-type system in place. (See Figure 4.)

Recession Did NotCause Changes to PTO Allocations for Most. Ninety percent of

participants with a PTO bank reported no changes in the amount of paid time off allocated

annually to employees as a result of the 2009 recession. (See Figure 6.)

5There are other types of leave and not every organization offers every type of leave under traditional systems. Additionally,

not every PTO bank-type system requires the use of PTO time for the same absence reasons as traditional systemcategories. Therefore, caution should be used when comparing time off allocations for PTO bank-type vs. traditionalsystems.6

Forty percent of participating companies have a PTO Bank-Type system in place. (See Figure 1.)7 Over half (54%) of participating companies have a traditional paid time off system in place. (See Figure 1.)8

Nearly all companies using a traditional paid time off systems offer vacation leave (98%). (See Figure 16.)9

Most companies using a traditional paid time off system offer sick leave (87%). (See Figure 16.)

Number of Paid TimeOff Days Allocated

Annually

Type of Paid Time Off System

PTO Bank-Type System6

Traditional Paid Time OffSystem

7

Vacation8 Sick9

25th50th/

Median75th

Average/Mean

25th50th/

Median75th

Average/Mean

25th50th/

Median75th

Average(Mean)

Less than one year ofservice 10 15 20 15 5 10 12 8 5 6 10 7

1-2 years of service 15 18 21 19 10 10 14 12 5 9 12 9

3-4 years of service 16 19 23 20 10 12 15 13 6 10 12 9

5-6 years of service 20 22 26 23 15 15 16 16 6 10 12 9

7-8 years of service 20 23 26 23 15 15 18 16 6 10 12 9

9-10 years of service 21 24 28 24 15 15 20 17 6 10 12 9

11-15 years of service 23 26 30 26 17 20 20 19 6 10 12 9

16-19 years of service 25 27 31 28 20 20 21 20 6 10 12 920+ years of service 25 29 32 29 20 20 25 22 6 10 12 9


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4

PTO Time is Usually Accrued Rather than Credited All at Once. Eighty-five percent of

participating organizations award PTO bank time on an accrual basis throughout the year.

(See Figure 7.)

Use-it-or-Lose it is not Common. Fifty-five percent of organizations allow unused PTO

bank time to be entirely rolled over to the next year, and 30% allow a partial rollover to the next

year. Further, when an employee separates from an organization, 88% of employers pay outthe remaining PTO balance in cash. (See Figure 10 and Figure 11.)

Traditional Paid Time Off Systems

Nearly All Give Vacation; 87% Offer Sick Leave. The most common categories of leave

under a traditional system are vacation (98%), jury duty (90%), bereavement (89%), sick leave

(87%) and paid holidays (83%).(See Figure 16.)

Three-Fourths Award Vacation on Accrual Basis; Half Do So for Sick Leave. Employees

at 72% of the organizations with traditional systems accrue vacation throughout the year, while

only half of companies award sick days on an accrual basis. (See Figure 19.)

Unaccrued Time is Typically Given at the Beginning of the Calendar Year. Of those that

award a lump sum of time at a specific point in the year for vacation, sick and/or personal

days, about three-fourths do so at the beginning of the calendar year. (See Figure 19.)

Use-it-or-Lose-it More Common than with PTO Bank-Types. For traditional systems a

little more than a third forfeit unused vacation (35%) or sick time (43%) at the end of the

calendar year, while unused personal days are almost always forfeited (80%). Most

organizations pay vacation time balances out in cash at the time of separation (91%).

However, at about 80% of participating organizations with these plans, unused sick or

personal time is forfeited when the employee separates. (See Figure 23.)

Paid Holidays

Overall, Nine Paid Holidays Are Typically Given. Across all types of paid time off systems,employees receive nine paid holidays, on average. When looking at the two major types of

systems separately, while both findings can be rounded to nine days per year, traditional paid

time off plans technically offer a statistically greater average number of paid holidays in a

given year (nine) versus PTO bank-type plans at 8.7. (See Figure 25.)

Secular Holidays Are Most Common. Overall, organizations offer an average of nine paid

holidays a year. Leading the list are:

o New Years Day and/or Thanksgiving Day (99%)

o Labor Day and/or Memorial Day (98%)

o Independence Day (97%) (See Figure 25.)

Sabbaticals Fewer than Two in 10 Employers Offer Sabbatical Leave. Only 15% of participating

organizations offer sabbatical leave programs. (See Figure 27.)

Sabbatical Leave is Usually Unpaid. Two-thirds (65%) of the organizations who offer

sabbatical leave do not offer paid sabbatical leave. (See Figure 27a.)


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5

Paid Time Off and Competition for Talent

Most Organizations Say They Need to Offer Paid Time Off to be Competitive. Overall,

three-fourths of participating organizations (76%) feel that they need to offer paid time off

programs in order to compete for talent. (See Figure 31.)

Those with PTO Bank-Type Systems Place Even More Importance on Paid Time Off.

Eight in 10 organizations (83%) with PTO bank-type programs indicted that paid time offprograms are essential in the competition for talent. By comparison, 72% of those with

traditional systems said they need to offer paid time off to be competitive. (See Figure 31a.)

Paid Time Off is Commonly Used to Attract New Employees. Seventy percent (70%) of

those with a PTO bank-type system and 60% of those with a traditional system feature or

market the paid time off system as a key employee benefit when attempting to attract new

employees. (See Figure 32.)


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6

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Paid Time Off System Prevalence...... 7Figure 2: Paid Time Off System Prevalence by Organization Size......... 8Figure 3: Paid Time Off System Prevalence by Industry........ 9

PTO Bank-Type System

Figure 4: Types of Absences.. 10Figure 5: Number of PTO Days Allocated Annually.. 10

Figure 5a: Box Plot of PTO Days Allocated Annually.. 11Figure 6: Impact of Recession on PTO Time Allocation. 12Figure 7: Method of Crediting PTO Time to Employees.. 12Figure 8: Waiting Period for Use of PTO Time... 13Figure 9: PTO Time Usage Increments.... 14Figure 10: Unused PTO at the End of Annual Cycle.... 15Figure 11: Unused PTO at Separation of Employment 16Figure 12: Length of Time System in Use... 17Figure 13: Motivation of Implementing System..... 17Figure 14: Effect of System of on Employee Morale.... 18Figure 15: Effect of System on Absentee Situation.. 18

Traditional Paid Time Off System

Figure 16: Types of Time Off Categories..... 19Figure 17: Considering a PTO Bank Type System.... 19Figure 18: Number of Vacation Days Allocated Annually... 20

Figure 18a: Number of Sick Days Allocated Annually..... 20Figure 18b: Number of Personal Days Allocated Annually.... 21

Figure 19: Method of Crediting Vacation, Sick and Personal Time to Employees.. 21Figure 20: Waiting Period for Use of Paid Time Off.. 22Figure 21: Limit to Paid Time Off Accrued.. 22Figure 22: Handling of Unused Paid Time Off at End of Annual Cycle... 23Figure 23: Handling of Unused Paid Time Off at Separation of Employment .. 24Figure 24: Sick Time Counted Under No-Fault Attendance or Other Absence Control Policy 24

Paid Holidays

Figure 25: Prevalence of Paid Holidays... 25Figure 26: Prevalence of Floating Holidays.... 26

Sabbatical Leave

Figure 27: Prevalence of Sabbatical Leave Programs.. 27Figure 27a: Types of Sabbatical Leave Programs.. 27Figure 28: Limits on Sabbatical Leave .. 27

Donation of Leave

Figure 29: Prevalence of Donation of Leave Programs... 28Figure 30: Options to Borrow or Purchase Additional Paid Leave... 28

General

Figure 31: Impact of Paid Time Off Programs in Competition for Talent.. 29Figure 31a: Comparison of Paid Time Off Programs in Competition for Talent.. 29

Figure 32: Use of Paid Time Off Programs to Attract Talent.. 30

Demographics

Figure 33: Organization Size... 31Figure 34: Industry..... 32


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7

Detailed Survey Results

The following detailed survey results summarize only the results for the 2010 Paid Time Off Survey.

Due to differences in samples, questions and data, comparisons between 2002 and 2006 to the 2010

Paid Time Off Survey are not summarized in the results below.

Figure 1: Does your organization currently use a traditional paid time off system in which

each employee is allocated a certain number of paid days in categories such as vacation,

personal, sick, etc., or does it use a PTO bank-type system in which paid vacation, sick,

personal leave, etc. is combined into one category of available time off that the employee

manages within certain employer guidelines? (n=1,036)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Traditionalsystem with

vacation time,sick time,

personal time

PTO bank-typesystem

My companyoffers unlimited

leave

Other My companydoes not offerpaid leave of

any kind

54%

40%

1%

5%

0%

Of the organizations that selected Other in the question above, 31% noted that they offer both

traditional and PTO bank systems.


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8

Figure 2: Paid Time Off System Prevalence by Organization Size10

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Less than 100 employees

100 to 499

500 to 999

1,000 to 2,499

2,500 to 4,999

5,000 to 9,999

10,000 to 19,999

20,000 or more

52%

59%

60%

54%

53%

53%

49%

68%

48%

41%

40%

46%

47%

47%

51%

32%

Traditional System (n=490) PTO Bank System (n=373)

10Organizations with 20,000 employees or more and organizations with 500 to 999 employees were both statistically

significantly more likely to have a traditional system.


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9

Figure 3: Paid Time Off System Prevalence by Industry11

The health-care and social assistance industry is the only industry more likely to have a PTO bank

system.

IndustryType of System

TraditionalSystem


Educational Services (n=32) 97% 3%Public Administration (n=33) 88% 12%Retail Trade (n=32) 81% 19%Utilities, Oil and Gas (n=48) 73% 27%All Other Manufacturing(n=94) 67% 33%Finance and Insurance (n=124) 50% 50%

Consulting, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

(n=60) 50% 50%

Information (includes Publishing, IT Technologies, etc.) (n=40) 50% 50%

Computer and Electronic Manufacturing (n=31) 48% 52%

Health-care and Social Assistance (n=120) 20% 80%Other (n=141) 55% 45%

11Educational services, public administration, retail/trade, all other manufacturing and utilities (oil and gas), were all

statistically significantly more likely to use a traditional system over a PTO bank system. While the health-care and socialassistance industry is statistically more likely to use a PTO bank system over a traditional system. However, datacorresponding to larger sample sizes will have stronger statistical power and validity. Industries with fewer than 30respondents were not included in this analysis or table.


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10


The following results include only organizations that use a PTO bank-type system as their primary

time off program (n=419).

Figure 4: For what types of absences are employees expected to use PTO time? (n=413)Organizations expect employees to primarily use PTO bank time for vacation, sickness and personal

days while 75% or more organizations offer separate programs for holidays, bereavement and jury

duty.

5%

11%

24%

74%

90%

98%

100%

95%

89%

76%

26%

10%

2%

0%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Jury Duty

Bereavement

Holidays

Volunteer/communitywork

Sick

Personal

Vacation

Employee is expected to use PTO

We offer separate programs for this type ofabsence

Figure 5: Please indicate how many PTO days an employee of your organization is allocated

annually, based on the employees tenure in whole years. (n=413)

Number of Paid Time Off DaysAllocated Annually


25th50

t/

Median75th

Average/Mean

Less than one year of service 10 15 20 15

1-2 years of service 15 18 21 19

3-4 years of service 16 19 23 205-6 years of service 20 22 26 23





20+ years of service 25 29 32 29Note: 25

th, 50

th, and 75

threpresent the 25

th, 50

thand 75

thpercentiles, respectively.


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11

Figure 5a: Illustration of the Number of Paid Time Off Days Allocated Annually in a PTO Bank

Type System

The top of the box demonstrates the upper quartile (75th percentile ranking), while the bottom of the

box represents the lower quartile (25th percentile rankings). The upper limit line defines the sample

maximum12.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Less thanone yearof service

1-2 yearsof service

3-4 yearsof service

5-6 yearsof service

7-8 yearsof service

9-10 yearsof service

11-15years ofservice

16-19years ofservice

20+ yearsof service

Average Median (50th) Mode

12Analysis of outliers included, observed frequencies and histograms along with analysis of the trimmed mean and standard

deviation. Records considered extreme (likely a report of hours not days) were removed from the analysis.


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12

Figure 6: Did your company change the amount of paid time off allocated annually to

employees as a result of the 2009 recession? (n=389)

Increasedamount

1%

Decreasedamount

4%

Made changenot related to

recession5%

No change90%

Figure 7: What is the method for crediting PTO time to employees? (n=392)

Yearly

allocation15%

Accruedduring the

year85%

Of organizations that credit PTO to employees as a yearly allocation, (15%), 71% credit PTO bank

days at the beginning of the calendar year. Fourteen percent credit PTO bank days to employees on

the anniversary date of employment and 9% credit days at the beginning of the fiscal year.


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13

Figure 8: How long must workers be employed in your organization before they can use PTO

time? (n=392)

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

As of date of hire

Beginning of next pay period

Beginning of next month

After 6 months of employment

After 1 year of employment

Specific number of days

40%

13%

11%

7%

1%

28%

In a follow-up question regarding limits on paid time off accumulation, the majority of organizations

(79%) impose a limit on the total number of hours an employee can accumulate in his/her PTO bank.

Twenty percent of organizations indicated a maximum number of hours an employee can accumulatein a PTO bank is between 200 and 300 hours. Fourteen percent stated one to two times the annual

amount was the maximum and 6% stated maximum accumulation limits are based on employee

tenure.

Of respondents that selected a

"Specific number of days,"

89% specified 90 days.


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14

Figure 9: Whats the smallest increment that an employee can use PTO time? (Please

consider the usage of accumulated PTO time only; do not consider minimums that may apply

to the usage of unpaid time off.) (n=386)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

15minutes

30minutes

1 hour 4 hours 8 hours Other

32%

7%

25%

16%

5%

15%

Of organizations that selected Other, 24% noted the smallest increment of PTO time an employee

can use is two hours, while another 24% indicated that the smallest increment varies by exemption

status.


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15

Figure 10: Please indicate how unused PTO time is handled at the end of each annual cycle:

13 (n=390)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Partially paid out in cash

Entirely paid out in cash

Forfeited

Partially rolled over to the next year

Entirely rolled over to the next year

1%

2%

11%

30%

55%

Thirty-one percent of organizations partially paid out or rolled over unused PTO bank days. (See

Figure 11.) When asked what options employees are given for the remainder:

37% of organizations force employees to forfeit the remainder

18% of organizations pay remainder out in cash

1% allow remainder to be rolled over into a retirement vehicle.

13Some state laws require a monetary payout of specific types of accumulated leave. Differences in state

requirements may impact this data. However, individual state response rates to this survey demonstrated a similardistribution and therefore, the potential impact of state laws is considered minimal.


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16

Figure 11: What options are available to an employee with a PTO balance upon separation of

employment? (n=387)14

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Other

Roll-over to a retirement vehicle

Donate to a shared balance for use by variousemployees with qualifying needs

Donate to a specific employees paid time offbalance, who has a qualifying need

No options; all accumulated PTO time is forfeited

Pay out in cash

10%

1%

1%

3%

5%

88%

Of organizations that answered Other, 54% stated they only pay out a portion of the remaining

available PTO balance.

14Some state laws require a monetary payout of specific types of accumulated leave. Differences in state requirements may

impact this data. However, individual state response rates to this survey demonstrated a similar distribution and therefore,the potential impact of state laws is considered minimal.


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17

Figure 12: How long has your organization had a PTO bank system? (n=387)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Less thanone year

1-2 years 3-4 years 5-9 years 10 or moreyears

3%

10%

16%

28%

44%

Figure 13: What was the primary motivation(s) for implementing a PTO bank system?

(n=386)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Other

Employee morale

Reduce absenteeism

To stay competitive withother companies

Easier to administer

11%

4%

21%

26%

38%

Of organizations that selected Other, more than a quarter (27%) mentioned selecting a PTO bank

system to grant the employee more flexibility and 17% implemented a PTO bank system for the cost

effectiveness.


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18

Figure 14: How would you describe the effect of the PTO bank system on the morale of your

organization when it was first implemented? (n=384)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Generally been good formorale

Had no impact onemployee morale

Generally been bad formorale

72%

18%

9%

Figure 15: How would you describe the effect of the PTO bank system on your organizations

absentee situation when it was first implemented? (n=384)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Improved absenteeism Had no impact onabsenteeism

Worsened absenteeism

55%

43%

3%


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19

Traditional Paid Time Off Systems

The following results include only organizations that use a traditional paid time off system as their

primary program (n=555). Fewer than 10% of organizations offer separate programs for vacation time,

personal time, and/or sick time under the PTO bank-type system. Those organizations are not

included in the results below.

Figure 16: What separate categories of paid time off are offered to employees of your

organization? (Check all that apply.) (n=555)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Other

Volunteer/Communityservice

Personal days (not PTObank-type leave)

Holiday (incl. floatingholidays)

Sick time

Bereavement leave

Jury duty

Vacation time

14%

17%

49%

83%

87%

89%

90%

98%

Yes

20%

No

80%

Figure 17: Is your organization considering

rolling various types of leave together to offer

employees a PTO bank-type of leave that they

can use for a variety of needs?

(n= 533)


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20

The following results include only organizations that offer a separate category for vacation time

(n=545), sick time (n=481) and personal days (n=270) under the organizations traditional PTO

system.

Figure 18: Please indicate how many days an employee of your organization is allocatedannually, based on the employees tenure in whole years.

Average Number of Vacation Days AllocatedAnnually Under Traditional Systems

(n=545)

25th

percentile

50th/

Median

75th

percentileAverage/Mean

Less than one year of service 5 10 12 81-2 years of service 10 10 14 12

3-4 years of service 10 12 15 135-6 years of service 15 15 16 167-8 years of service 15 15 18 16


16-19 years of service 20 20 21 2020+ years of service 20 20 25 22

Figure 18a: Number of Sick Days Allocated Annually

Average Number of Sick Days Allocated AnnuallyUnder Traditional Systems

(n=481)

25th

percentile

50th/

Median

75th

percentileAverage/Mean

Less than one year of service 5 6 10 71-2 years of service 5 9 12 93-4 years of service 6 10 12 95-6 years of service 6 10 12 97-8 years of service 6 10 12 99-10 years of service 6 10 12 911-15 years of service 6 10 12 916-19 years of service 6 10 12 920+ years of service 6 10 12 9


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21

Figure 18b: Number of Personal Days Allocated Annually

Average Number of Personal Days AllocatedAnnually Under Traditional Systems

(n=212)

25th

percentile

50th/

Median

75th

percentile

Average/Mean

Less than one year of service 0 2 3 21-2 years of service 2 2.25 5 3




20+ years of service 2 3 5 3

Figure 19: What is the method for crediting vacation, sick or personal time to employees?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Vacation Time(n=524)

Sick Time(n=440)

Personal Time(n=270)

72%

50%

20%

28%

50%

80%

Accrued throughout the year

Yearly allocation awarded at one specific time

Of organizations that award the yearly allocation of paid time off at one specific point in the year

(vacation time 28%, sick time 50%, and personal time 80%):

68% allocate vacation at the beginning of the calendar year

75% allocate sick days at the beginning of the calendar year

73% allocate personal days at the beginning of the calendar year.

Twenty percent of organizations allocate vacation time on the anniversary date of employment.


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Figure 20: How long must workers be employed in your organization before they can use

vacation, sick or personal time?

Thirty and 90 days are the most commonly specified number of days noted under Specific number of

days.

Figure 21: Does your organization impose a maximum on the total number of paid time off

hours an employee can accumulate?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%


Sick Time(n=429)


75%

62%

64%

25%

38%

36%

Yes, there is a total number of PTO hours an employeecan accumulateNo maximum accumulation hours

Accumulation limits vary; most common levels cited are:

One to two times the annual hours given

Amounts vary due to tenure.

Time Employee Must Work Under a TraditionalSystem Before using Paid Time Off


Sick Time(n=436)

PersonalTime(n=239)

As of date of hire 37% 49% 50%

Beginning of next pay period 9% 10% 5%

Beginning of next month 9% 8% 5%

After 6 months of employment 19% 9% 9%

After 1 year of employment 5% 3% 8%

Specific number of days 20% 21% 23%


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Figure 22: How is unused vacation, sick or personal time handled at the end of each annual

cycle?15

This figure shows how unused paid time off is handled at the end of the annual cycle for continuing

employees. Data showing how unused time is handled at the time of separation is displayed in Figure

23.

How Unused Paid Time Off is HandledUnder a Traditional System

VacationTime

(n=519)

Sick Time(n=436)

PersonalTime

(n=240)Forfeited 35% 43% 80%

Entirely rolled over to the next year 36% 45% 10%

Partially rolled over to the next year 27% 6% 3%

Entirely paid out in cash 2% 3% 5%

Partially paid out in cash 1% 2% 2%Entirely rolled over to a retirement vehicle 0% 1% 0%

Of organizations that only allow a partial roll over or payout of unused paid time off at the end of the

annual cycle under traditional plans:

18% of organizations pay out accumulated unused vacation time and sick time in cash

22% of organizations pay out accumulated unused personal time in cash

2% of organizations allow employees the option to roll the remaining unused vacation time

that is not paid out in cash into a retirement vehicle

3% of organizations allow employees the option to roll the remaining unused sick time that isnot paid out in cash into a retirement vehicle

11% of organizations allow employees the option to roll the remaining unused personal time

that is not paid out in cash into a retirement vehicle

Remaining accumulated vacation, personal and sick time that is not paid out or rolled over is

often forfeited.




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Figure 23: What options are available to an employee with a paid time off balance upon

separation of employment?16

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%


Sick Time(n=429)


14%

5%

91%

79%

82%

4%

4%

3%

8%

11%

8%

Pay out in cash

No options; all accumulated paid time off time is forfeitedRoll-over to a retirement vehicle

Other (including donation to a specific employee or general account)

Yes40%

No60%



Figure 24: Does your organization count time

taken as sick time under a no-fault attendance

policy or any other absence control policy?

(n= 416)


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Paid Holidays

Figure 25: Which of the following will be observed as paid holidays in 2010 at your

organization? (Check all that apply.)

Paid Holidays 2010

Traditional

System

(n=410)

PTO BankType System

(n=288)

UnlimitedSystem

17

(n=7)

OtherSystem

18

(n=55)

New Years Day 99% 99% 100% 96%Thanksgiving Day 99% 99% 100% 96%Labor Day 98% 100% 100% 95%Memorial Day 97% 99% 100% 96%Independence Day 97% 97% 100% 96%Christmas Day 93% 92% 100% 89%Day after Thanksgiving 73% 77% 86% 62%Christmas Eve 51% 47% 71% 42%Presidents Day/Washingtons Birthday 45% 42% 29% 40%Martin Luther King Jr. Day 38% 36% 57% 31%New Years Eve 33% 29% 43% 31%Good Friday 22% 13% 43% 24%Veterans Day 17% 12% 29% 18%Columbus Day 12% 8% 14% 15%Easter 5% 5% 43% 7%Yom Kippur 0% 0% 0% 0%Rosh Hashanah 0% 0% 0% 0%Other 20% 17% 14% 36%

Most frequently mentioned under additional Other holidays were floating holidays and additional

days surrounding the Christmas and New Year holidays. On average, organizations offer nine paid

holidays a year.

Traditional paid time off plans offer an average of nine paid holidays per year and PTO bank-type

systems offer 8.7 paid holidays per year. While the difference between the two averages appears

small, it is statistically significant. Traditional paid time off plans statistically offer a greater average

number of paid holidays in a given year.

17Unlimited leave: time off that is not specifically allocated or tracked, and typically is at the discretion of management with

no limit.18

Other PTO programs specified by the participant most often were a combination of a traditional system and a PTO bank-type system.


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Figure 26: Does your organization offer employees floating holidays that employees can use

when they choose, in addition to the observed paid holidays?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Other System(n=54)

Unlimited System(n=7)

PTO System(n=286)

Traditional System(n=406)

50%

57%

33%

58%

50%

43%

67%

42%

Yes No

When floating holidays are offered under any type of paid time off system, one to three days appears

to be the most common, evident in open-ended responses from participants.


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Sabbatical Leave

Figure 27: Does your organization currently offer a sabbatical leave program? (n=936)

Figure 27a:

Yes

15%

No

86%

Yes responses only (n=136)

Yes,unpaid

65%

Yes, at fullpay22%

Yes, atpartial pa

13%

Of the 15% organizations that offer sabbatical leave (whether paid, partially paid or unpaid):

41% of organizations noted that employees must be employed a minimum of one to two years

to be eligible for sabbatical leave

17% percent of organizations allow sabbatical leave as of the date of hire.

Figure 28: Is there a limit to the number of sabbatical leaves an employee may take? (Onlyparticipants who answered yes to offering a sabbatical leave.) (n=132)

Yes38%

No62%

Of the 38% that impose a limit on sabbaticals, the amount varies from one every year, to no more

than one every 10 years.


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Donation of Leave

Figure 29: Does your organization allow employees to donate paid leave time to other

employees who may have extenuating circumstances forcing them to take an extended health

or personal leave?19

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Yes No

22%

78%

35%

65%

Traditional PTO System (n=494)

PTO Bank-Type System (n=376)

Figure 30: Does your organization allow employees to purchase or borrow additional paid

leave time beyond what they are allocated? (n=936)

Yes16%

No84%

In a follow-up question, of organizations that allow employees to donate paid leave time to other

employees (16%), 80% allowed employees to donate to a specificemployee who may have

extenuating circumstances forcing them to take an extended health or personal leave. Twenty-seven

percent permit donations into a general bank for use by various employees.

19Under a PTO bank system, organizations were statistically more likely to allow donation of paid time off to other

employees.


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General

Figure 31: Is it necessary for your organization to offer a paid time off program (whether

traditional or PTO-bank style) to be competitive in the labor market? (n= 932)

Yes76%

No24%

Figure 31a: Is it necessary for your organization to offer a paid time off program (whether

traditional or PTO-bank style) to be competitive in the labor market?20

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Yes No

83%

17%

72%

29%

PTO Bank Type System (n=376)

Traditional PTO System (n=494)

20Organizations with a traditional system were statistically less likely to feel that it is necessary to offer a PTO program in

order to be competitive in the labor market.


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Figure 32: Does your organization feature or market the PTO bank type or traditional time off

system as a key employee benefit when attempting to attract new employees?21

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Yes No

60%

40%

70%

30%

Traditional System (n=536)

PTO Bank Type System (n=381)

21A significantly higher number of organizations with PTO bank-type systems feature or market this system as a key

employee benefit in attracting new employees.


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Demographics

Figure 33: Please choose the total number of employees your organization employs

worldwide: (n=924)

0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

Less than 100employees

100 to 499

500 to 999

1,000 to 2,499

2,500 to 4,999

5,000 to 9,999

10,000 to 19,999

20,000 or more

5%

13%

12%

18%

16%

14%

8%

15%


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Figure 34: Please choose one category that best describes the industry in which your

organization operates: (n=924)

Industry

Finance and Insurance 14%

Health-Care and Social Assistance 14%All Other Manufacturing 11%

Consulting, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 7%

Utilities, Oil and Gas 6%

Information (includes Publishing, IT Technologies, etc.) 5%

Retail Trade 4%

Public Administration 4%

Educational Services 4%

Computer and Electronic Manufacturing 3%

Pharmaceuticals 2%

Transportation 2%Construction 1%

Wholesale Trade 1%

Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 1%

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 1%

Accommodations and Food Services 1%

Mining 1%

Other Services (except Public Administration) 1%

Other 16%

Documents

Unlimited Off Survey