The growing trend of return-to-office orders has renewed benefit managers' focus on paid time off benefits and flexible work arrangements, but has also added to a laundry list of stressors facing employees nationwide.
The question is, what can human resource leaders do to not only improve retention rates, but the overall well-being of their employees?
One starting point is normalizing that it's OK for employees to use their accrued PTO, and having executives set examples and expectations for what that means internally.
Amy Spurling, founder and chief executive of the Boston-based employee benefits reimbursement platform Compt, said there's a stigma around employees taking time away from work to recharge and "it's been killing productivity for a while."
"Based on what I've seen, the stigma exists because most companies accidentally (mostly) create cultures where taking time off feels risky," Spurling said. "I've watched employees postpone vacations because they're terrified of what they'll return to. Or worse, that their absence will prove they're not essential."
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At her company, Spurling has instituted minimum PTO requirements for employees each year, in addition to documentation and coverage protocols for when employees take off work and occasional check-ins on whether existing workloads are sustainable in the long term.
Other companies like Lessonly, a workplace training platform, also have mandated time off periods throughout the year to combat workplace fatigue. Lessonly also offers unlimited PTO.
Simply offering these benefits isn't enough to make a
"Aligning a PTO policy with actual employee needs, and stripping away punitive accrual ceilings or overly cumbersome rules, is the right step toward retaining talent and burnout prevention," Kelsey Szamet, partner at the California employment law firm Kingsley Szamet Employment Lawyers, said.
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For those seeking to attract the next generation of professionals, "ditch the one-size-fits-all approach and make time off a true reflection of your values," said Chad Volkerts, HR manager at email verification software firm ZeroBounce.
Learn more about how benefit managers are rethinking their approaches to PTO.
Executive encouragement can motivate employees to take time off
Employees, between workload pressures and the organizational tones set by upper management, often feel that there is no right time to use their accumulated PTO without falling behind on their responsibilities. This can lead to a quicker build-up of staff burnout and higher levels of turnover.
Benefit managers wondering where meaningful change can be made to reverse this trend need to start at the executive level and work their way down.
To start, building
Below are examples of how various companies are remodeling their paid leave benefits to meet the needs of their workforce.
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The advantage of flexible work offerings for female professionals
The rise and fall of remote work arrangements has had a disproportionate impact on a slew of different professionals, least of all are women and
Data released in December by California-based earned wage access provider Payactiv concluded that the
HR managers that implement remote or hybrid work arrangements for those juggling caregiving responsibilities with those of a full-time position can help boost retention rates and create more opportunities for advancement.
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Growing workloads lead employees to refuse time off
"Holiday hoarding" is a growing trend among employees who refuse to use their banked time off due to worries of falling behind on work or perceived stigmas surrounding PTO usage — leading to mental and physical health risks.
Peter Duris, the CEO and co-founder of Kickresume, an AI-based career tool, told EBN that fears of being unrecognized or not having time banked in the event of an emergency largely mean "stressed out workers are not taking the time off that they need to rest."
"An unhappy workforce also leads to less productivity, fewer creative ideas and less effective teamwork," Duris said. "It contributes to rapid turnover, with staff feeling so stressed that they decide to find another job."
One possible solution that could encourage employees to break away from their desks include shifting from requiring staff to ask managers for time off to submitting requests through a digital portal.
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How a brand's name inspired a change in PTO attitude
When Mike Lombardo and his business partner launched Halfday, the Philadelphia-based gut-healthy tea company, the brand was built around the idea of taking time to relax and spend time with friends and family. As it grew more popular, so too did the idea of a PTO campaign.
"We thought that if we could use our brand name as a fun way to promote a new narrative, we could do a really good thing," Lombardo told EBN. "So that inspired the question of, what if we paid people to take time for themselves? Would that nudge people to do the right thing for their own mental and physical health?"
In April, the company debuted its "Take A Halfday On Us" campaign, where 100 people received a cash prize of $100 to put toward the half day of their choosing. More than 1,000 submissions were received.
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How much PTO are employees getting?
PTO is a federally-required standard in the working world, but not all companies are created equal.
March 2024 data from the
Sick leave was the most prevalent form of PTO at organizations with as little as 50 workers to more than 500, while personal leave was the least available across all organization sizes.
"When a PTO policy is well-written and enforced, it ensures time off is administered fairly and equitably across the workforce, reducing the potential for favoritism or managers bending the rules for their team members," Amy Marcum, manager of client implementation at Insperity,
