Vacation, Sick, and Personal Day Management

For the most part, companies are allowed to manage vacation, sick, and personal days in a way that suits their operation. There are a handful of federal and state laws about time off. Fundamentally, however, you can offer paid vacation, sick, and personal days as a benefit to attract and retain the best workers for your company.

When managing an employee’s vacation time and personal time, employers take several things into account. Whether you offer one week or six weeks per year, vacations need to be scheduled in a way that will not affect your company’s productivity.

In most cases a company can’t allow several employees—particularly in one department—to use their vacation days at the same time. Seasonal businesses will limit or forbid employee vacations during busy periods. Deadline-oriented businesses often block off certain days or weeks when employees are not allowed to schedule a vacation. A senior-level employee who has accrued a lot of vacation time might be prevented from taking two solid months off.

Again, businesses are basically allowed to manage vacation and personal days however they see fit, but an employee leasing company like PEP is an important resource for businesses to ensure all employment laws are being followed.

Sick leave, on the other hand, comes with more government regulation than vacation and personal time. Employers must follow both federal and state laws when workers take time off for medical purposes. For example, you may not be required to offer sick leave with pay, but in some instances the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles employees to unpaid sick leave for their own illness or a family member’s illness—without losing their jobs or health benefits. In addition, a bill has been introduced to Congress that would require employers to provide annual paid sick leave benefits. Known as the Healthy Americans Act, this law has not been passed but it is a regulation that employers should watch carefully.

Since managing vacation, personal, and sick leave requires a lot of administration and paperwork, PEP can help you keep track of everything. Our employee leasing program will save you time by documenting absences and calculating how many vacation, personal, and sick days each employee has taken and how many paid days are left. In addition, PEP will advise you on all laws regarding time off for your workers. Call us at 1-800-650-3002.