Ask any employer and they will tell you that it is much harder to recruit new staff, than it is to retain existing staff. However, one of the biggest challenges in business is retaining staff. It is essential to understand what staff are looking for, so that you can meet them at the point of their needs. One significant incentive that keeps people working in a place is the Paid Time Off Policy.

The employee paid time off policy is one that puts together sick time, vacation days as well as personal time into one bank of days for employees. Using it, employees are able to take some paid time off from work. It gives the employee the opportunity to use all the days that they have off at their own convenience. Employees are able to better maintain an excellent work-life balance when they are allowed to control their time off. As with any benefits, the PTO policy for small business can have its pros and cons as well. Here are some that are worth noting: –

Pros of Paid Time Off Policy

1. Employees are able to take responsibility of their own schedules. This saves managers from the task of constant monitoring of how their employees are making use of their off days.
2. The above advantage links with another one and that is having control over absences at work. There are those employees who take advantage of certain leave days, such as sick days, whether or not they need them. Paid time off policy puts a stop to that.
3. Retention of staff also improves and stands out as a paid time off policy best practice. In addition to being able to keep staff in, PTO also helps to attract the most qualified staff to the business.

Cons of PTO

1. A key disadvantage comes in scheduling time to other employees when there are those who have taken time off. There may be some point when the business is understaffed because of the employee paid time off policy.
2. When employees are sick, they may decide that they should still come to work as they are looking forward to using their PTO time for vacation. This affects overall productivity and may even affect other employees who are on the job.
3. Translating the paid time off policy for hourly employees may be a little challenging. Most of these plans are advantageous to those who have been working for the company for several years, rather than the more short time employees.

This policy is excellent, though how it is applied is important. It may not be suitable for all types of organization, so must be explored well before being applied. It is possible to try out a hybrid of this policy following review with a human resource professional. Should you choose to take up this policy, time must be taken to brief and educate the staff on how to best benefit from it. This will help prevent misuse, thus creating benefits in the long run.