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My wife has took a job that gives her PTO (paid time off) if she has to leave early or isn't there her boss makes her use her time. I've had PTO with other jobs but I have never heard of this, has anyone else experienced this? Could this be a state thing? She's going to HR today to check with them but I have to admit this is very strange.
Here, we use flex time for things like appointments at management's discretion to save our leave. I did it when I was hourly. It would suck if I had to use leave every time I was two hours late as opposed to making it up during the work week.
So the problem is that they don't let her take the time off without pay? That is pretty standard, and what PTO is for, vacation, appointments, cold, upset stomach, anything that keeps an employee from being at work. Leave without pay normally has to be authorized in advance, and then is rarely approved if someone has PTO hours on the books.
But she worked for them, so why can't see use them as she wants too? Hell if nothing else she's saving them money. IF she gets sick for a week she'll have no time built up & they won't have to pay her.
They want her to use her PTO when she's not there. It encourages employees to take the time off they need, and not to take too much time off by using only the PTO and not taking unpaid time off. I'm not sure why you're perturbed that she's getting paid when she's out. It's a fair policy, and standard in PTO workplaces.
If she needs to leave early for something like a Doctor's appointment her boss is telling her that she HAS to use her PTO. Should it not be her choice when she wants to use it?
They want her to use her PTO when she's not there. It encourages employees to take the time off they need, and not to take too much time off by using only the PTO and not taking unpaid time off. I'm not sure why you're perturbed that she's getting paid when she's out. It's a fair policy, and standard in PTO workplaces.
It's also a policy put in place to keep people from abusing unpaid time off. Let's say John Doe takes unpaid time off every couple of weeks to go to the doctor, etc.. and uses up about 20 additional hours of unpaid time off. Then he turns around and wants to use all of his PTO to take a 2 week vacation to the Bahamas. At the end of the year he has actually missed 100 hours of work, instead of 80. So he cost them an additional 20 hours.
We had to implement a policy prohibiting the use of unpaid time off at my last company because people would routinely show up late/leave early to go "run errands" or other "emergencies" and it ended up snowballing to where everyone wanted to do it. There was one afternoon that 4 of my people left early and took unpaid time off (unbeknownst to me as they talked to the office manager instead of me) and it made us late on a delivery that I had to answer for. I lost 16 hours worth of work in an afternoon. We made it a requirement that unpaid time off was at management discretion.
Unpaid time off is a slippery slope and can be abused very easily, often with a snowball effect. When people have to burn PTO, they tend to only use it either when they really need to be off, or for vacation. Not for things that really aren't necessary.
I would think but for some reason no one is getting it....
You are the one not getting it.
PTO is for exactly what she is doing... leaving early, not being there, appointments, etc.
That is its purpose, and it's pretty standard.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reed067
If she needs to leave early for something like a Doctor's appointment her boss is telling her that she HAS to use her PTO. Should it not be her choice when she wants to use it?
Every place I've worked if you're not there, you have to use leave of some type. The option of not being there and not using leave, and just not getting paid for those hours, was not on the table in professional settings.
Most businesses have set labor categories you have to fall into when it's time for payroll. You have to pull from a bucket of money or time. You're coded as working, paid time off, FMLA, etc.... Unpaid time off is a separate category and sometimes requires jumping through hoops to override the system to allow you to be off without pay.
It's also a policy put in place to keep people from abusing unpaid time off. Let's say John Doe takes unpaid time off every couple of weeks to go to the doctor, etc.. and uses up about 20 additional hours of unpaid time off. Then he turns around and wants to use all of his PTO to take a 2 week vacation to the Bahamas. At the end of the year he has actually missed 100 hours of work, instead of 80. So he cost them an additional 20 hours.
We had to implement a policy prohibiting the use of unpaid time off at my last company because people would routinely show up late/leave early to go "run errands" or other "emergencies" and it ended up snowballing to where everyone wanted to do it. There was one afternoon that 4 of my people left early and took unpaid time off (unbeknownst to me as they talked to the office manager instead of me) and it made us late on a delivery that I had to answer for. I lost 16 hours worth of work in an afternoon. We made it a requirement that unpaid time off was at management discretion.
Unpaid time off is a slippery slope and can be abused very easily, often with a snowball effect. When people have to burn PTO, they tend to only use it either when they really need to be off, or for vacation. Not for things that really aren't necessary.
You described it very well.
OP, your wife can't "take off work" AND still "save those same hours" for later.
Either she stays at work and actually works or she misses work and uses PTO.
Sort of like the old expression "You can't eat your cake and save it, too". At most jobs you can't "Use your PTO and save it, too"
Frankly, she should be happy that she has even paid time off. At my current job, I have zero sick days and zero PTO plus I need to work in full or half day blocks (due the nature of the job). If I have a doctor's appointment where I would need to leave 1/2 hour before quitting time it means that I need to take a half or a whole day without pay.
Last edited by germaine2626; 06-23-2015 at 07:49 AM..
The law in most states stipulate that an employee with PTO must be given opportunities to use their PTO. When those opportunities are is decided by the the employer. Employers can, rightfully, mandate when an employee must take their PTO.
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