Paid Holidays or Paid Time Off

I had a great Memorial Day yesterday. We celebrated my daughter's birthday in Baton Rouge. It was great to see friends and family. It was only possible because so many of them had the day off. It made me think about paid holidays as opposed to Paid Time Off (PTO) policies.

The Request for Paid Holidays:

I once worked for a company that did not have designated Paid Holidays. The company provided PTO to compensate for the lack of holidays. Rather than provide 10 days of PTO and 7 holidays, the company provided 17 days of PTO, which could be used for any reason the employee wanted.

We had one employee who periodically campaigned for paid holidays. I tried to explain to her that her PTO could be used to make any holiday a paid holiday. She could not grasp the distinction. To her PTO was equivalent to vacation time, and holidays were distinct from vacation time.

I tried to explain to this employee that establishing set holidays reduced flexibility. For example, I have never taken off for Memorial Day unless my employer was closed. Even if most of the office took off the day for Memorial Day, I would go into work. It was more valuable for me to work (with fewer interruptions I might add) on Memorial Day and save the PTO day. The employee still felt it was better to have holidays, citing the fact that she felt guilty taking off of work. She felt that by having holidays she would not have to feel guilty, since everyone would be off of work.

Eventually, we put the matter up for a vote. The vote was between (1) reducing the amount of PTO and provide an equivalent number of paid holidays; or (2) maintaining the PTO schedule (no change). The PTO (no change) option won and the matter was closed. The PTO option won because most employees understood that the flexibility was more valuable than reductions in the feelings of guilt that accompanied taking a off for a day.

The Guilt Aspect:

I would argue that it benefits the company to encourage employees to take time off so long as it does not negatively impact operations. Time off helps employees remain productive at higher levels and reduces burnout. This mentality combined with a flexible PTO schedule enhances the paid time off benefit offering. Consider how an employee would feel when his or her employer wants the employee to have down time, encourages it even, and further does not dictate on which days the employee must use this time. I would argue that the employee will find more value in this arrangement than in one where the employee was provided set holidays but was discouraged from taking time off on other occasions.

The Diversity Problem:

Further, as companies began to realize the value of diversity, the religious holiday question becomes pertinent. I recently read an article on the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website by Rebecca Hastings that provided the example of the Burlington, Vermont school board, which added a Muslim and Jewish holy day to its school calendar, only to have requests from representatives of the Hindu community to add Diwali to the list of holidays recognized by the school district.

(http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/employeerelations/articles/Pages/HolidayPolicyInclusive.aspx)

Why Holidays are Better:

All of that noted, I would add that the liability of utilizing PTO as opposed to Paid Holidays is that, depending on the state in which you operate, the PTO may be considered due at the time of termination, whereas Paid Holidays are only due if the employee works for the employer at the time of the Holiday. Segregating holiday and sick leave from a PTO policy can reduce the liability due at termination.

Additionally, to help alleviate the religious holiday concern, employers may designate "floating holidays" which can be used by the employee at his or her discretion.


My Conclusion:

Employers are well served in creating as many free or low cost benefits to provide employees. Job sharing, telecommuting, and flexible start/end times are all examples of benefits that mean a lot to employees and don't cost employers much, if anything. Similarly, PTO plans provide more flexibility for employees and thus allow them to utilize the time in the way they see fit. There is no additional cost for providing paid time off in this method and the added benefit is priceless.

The problem that companies must strive to overcome is an environment which discourages the use of PTO. A culture that encourages employees to work hard and put in extra work when needed can be combined with a culture that encourages employees to recharge, take time off, honor their families and their commitments, and observe their religious holidays in a manner that is consistent with their religious beliefs. By establishing such a culture, employers will find that they have employees who want to produce (if only due to peer pressure) and are better able to produce (as they are less likely to suffer from burnout).

In the end, each company should make the decision that best fits its culture, whether that means set holidays, flexible holidays, PTO, vacation time, or no paid holidays. When making the decision, employers should consider their workforce and the needs of their employees. There is no right or wrong answer, but by considering the benefits and detriments of each method of providing time off, and further, the specific terms of the policy, employers can enhance their benefit offering at little or no cost.


Works Cited:

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/employeerelations/articles/Pages/HolidayPolicyInclusive.aspx

Going the Extra Mile for My Clients (Straight Down if Necessary)

My wife and editor is one of the most accepting individuals I have ever known. One of her few pet peeves is when people use the word "literally" incorrectly. Her favorite example is, "I literally died when..."

I have always felt a strong commitment to my employers and clients. I would do anything I can to help support them. As of Saturday I can say "I would literally jump out of a plane for my clients," without annoying my wife. The truth is, I probably would not have jumped out of the plane if I were not doing it for one of my clients!

Extra Special People, Inc. (ESP) held a clever fund-raiser in which volunteers sought to raise at least $500 in donations in order to sky-dive. The money helped send a kid to ESP camp. The fund raiser was a success with over $12,000 raised!

I sought to work with Extra Special People because I believe in their mission and want to support them. The easiest way to support them was to help with their human resource needs. When the opportunity came to support them by jumping out of a plane, I felt the call to help.

The problem is, I also felt tremendous fear and trepidation. I hate roller coasters. Heck, I hate driving in the mountains. It took me years to be comfortable flying on a plane. What was I thinking?

I can say that up and through the moment of the jump, I was thinking "What was I thinking?"

In the end, I am glad I did it. I am glad to show that I support ESP to the point of breaking through my own fear and completing the task which I set out to complete. While I always felt I could, it is nice to know that I proved it.

I feel confident in saying that I am literally willing to do everything I can to support my clients, whether that means becoming an E-Verify Designated Agent to help my clients comply with the new state law, helping my clients with duties that are unrelated to human resources, or jumping out of a plane as part of a fundraising effort.

My goal is to help small companies committed to legal compliance and ethical business dealings succeed. I achieve this goal by providing low cost human resource assistance utilizing my knowledge, skills, and abilities. I go a step further by offering any assistance I possibly can, like helping to market my clients or participating in their fund-raisers.

Maybe this post is a bit of a "toot my own horn" post, but I am proud of myself. I am proud of what I did, but I am also proud of why I did it. Integrity is extremely important to me, and last weekend when I jumped out of a plane, I proved it. I overcame my fear and followed through on my commitment to my client. So, "Yay, me!"

As part of that commitment to help clients, I am now an E-Verify Designated Agent. I can ensure clients comply with the provisions of SB 40, which requires employers with 10 or more employees to utilize E-Verify. As a Designated Agent, I can help employers with the following:

- Creating and managing cases in E-Verify
- Creating and managing client accounts
- Overseeing cases created by clients
- Creating Reports
- Updating Company Profile Information
- Reseting passwords for your company’s users

It isn't jumping out of a plane, but it is still helpful!