Paid Time Off (PTO) is an employee-benefit policy offered by several organizations nowadays. Under this policy, the employees are given freedom of taking time off without losing their compensation. The number of days allowed in PTO can either be pre-specified by the organization or can be unlimited. With this time off, the organizations aim of encouraging employee productivity and morale to gain an edge over competitors.
While the most common leaves allowed in Paid Time Off Policy are sick, vacation, and personal holidays, there are several other time off that can be offered under PTO. Some of such leaves are listed below:
Sick Leave
Sick leave is the paid time off presented to the workers for addressing their ill health or injuries. This leave not only gives time of recovery to the unwell employee but also protects others from getting affected by the same.
In several nations, sick leave comes under the statutory requirements of the organizations.
Vacation Leave
Vacation leave is the paid time off given to the employees for the purpose of relaxing. This leave is often utilized by the workers in traveling with their family or friends. Vacation leave gives workers a break from their monotony and renders them a fresh enthusiasm.
This time off is considered essential by several organizations for keeping their employees spirit and morale high. The number of paid vacation time off offered to the employees can vary from company to company.
Personal Leave
Personal leave is a time off allowed to the employees for catering those situations that other leave options fail to cover. Like, working parents can use this leave for taking care of their ill child or for attending his school event.
Employees can use personal leave for enjoying festivals and occasions not covered under the federal leave calendar. The leave can also be utilized for handling situations like car check-ups, an appointment with doctor, and family gathering, etc.
Honeymoon Leave
Several organizations offer paid honeymoon leaves as a loyalty award to their employees. This paid time off is usually given only to those workers who have spent a specified number of years working in the organization.
Honeymoon leave is generally allowed for a pre-framed duration of time, crossing which costs the employee a loss of compensation.
Bereavement Leave
Bereavement leave is the paid time off given to an employee when someone from his immediate family passes away. This leave aims of giving the sufferer enough time to make arrangements of the funeral and to cope with the loss.
Often, organizations allow a different number of bereavement leaves to different employees, depending on their relationship with the deceased.
Voting Leave
Voting leave is the paid time off given to the employees for voting in the local and presidential elections. This is the legal right and moral duty of every eligible individual and that’s the reason why this leave is included in the Paid Time Off Policy of most of the organizations.
This leave is usually time-bound as it takes no more than a couple of hours to vote.
Parental Leave
Parental leave is the paid time off offered to the employee after the birth or adoption of his child. This leave aims of giving enough time to the new parents for taking care of their new-born or newly adopted baby.
Parental leave is a combined term used for both paternity and maternity leave. Paternity leave includes a period of absence allowed to the fathers before or after the birth of their child. Maternity leave is the approved absence allowed to the female employees for giving birth and taking care of their infant.
Maternity leave is granted for a comparatively longer duration than paternity leave.
Jury Duty Leave
A jury can be understood as a panel of people assigned for giving their judgment on the cases submitted to them. Jury duty occurs when a summon is received by a citizen from a state or Federal court for appearing on a specified date and time.
To appear on jury duty when called is the obligation of every citizen and to pay for such absence from work of an employee is the obligation of every organization. The employee can be asked to present their jury duty summons as proof for claiming his paid jury duty leave.
Military Leave
Military leave is a period of absence from work allowed to the employees who take part in some active/ inactive duties or training of the military.
Compensatory Leave
Compensatory leave is the paid time off offered to an employee as compensation for his overtime. Sometimes, to handle a heavy workload, employees are required to work for a longer duration of time, or even on weekends. In such situations, paid compensatory time off is presented to them for recompensing their loss.
Author Bio: Jayakumar Muthusamy is a Digital marketer at Freshworks Inc. He loves to writes about software that helps to improve marketing, sales or hiring process