{"id":1777,"date":"2019-07-19T15:58:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T15:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=1777"},"modified":"2023-11-14T22:29:57","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T22:29:57","slug":"choose-vacation-time-policy-for-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/choose-vacation-time-policy-for-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Choose the Vacation Time Policy for Your Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The national unemployment rate is low \u2014 5.4 per cent as of June<\/a> \u2014 and it doesn\u2019t show signs of increasing anytime soon. When unemployment is this low, it\u2019s a job-seeker\u2019s market, and businesses of all sizes look for ways to attract and keep top talent. One way you can do both is to choose the right vacation policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paid vacations can cost an organization anywhere from three to six per cent<\/a> of an employee\u2019s wages, plus the employee power needed to cover for the employee while they\u2019re gone. With the national average of compensation per hour rising around three per cent<\/a> annually, documented vacation policies are important both for employee satisfaction and for your company\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting the needs of workers, company culture, and your budget is a balancing act, but savvy employers make it work by carefully crafting a vacation policy that fits their organization. Here are the most important things to consider when establishing a vacation policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Limited Time Off<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Limiting time off is the traditional way companies handle paid leave. Workers have a specified number of days or hours they can take off, and once that time is used, they can\u2019t take any more paid time off. Although the government stipulates at least two or three weeks of paid vacation, depending on tenure, many companies offer more than the minimum to attract top talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A limited time-off policy encourages fairness for employees. Each worker knows up front they\u2019ll receive a certain amount of paid time off (PTO), and there\u2019s no favoritism. This system requires solid ground rules, or leaders risk undermining the fairness they seek with a limited time off policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracking Time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tracking vacation time is critical with this type of policy. Each employee needs an individual time bank that grows when time is accrued and depletes when they take paid time off. Workers and their managers should be able to quickly and easily find out exactly how much time is in the employee\u2019s bank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accumulating Time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

How employees receive vacation time varies between companies. Some employers add the hours into each worker\u2019s vacation account at the beginning of the year to encourage staff to use their time off when it makes sense for them. Other companies require staff to accrue PTO based on the number of hours worked, which can encourage a \u201cwork first, play second\u201d culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distributing Time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you choose to give employees more than the legal minimum amount of time off, you may want to distribute it differently to your employees. There are a few ways to give people extra time off, and how you do so could send your staff different messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n