Unused PTO...pay out or lose?

[Anonymous]

Part time nanny has 2 weeks PTO (vacation, sick, weather) plus we pay federal holidays and when we go on vacation. If some or all of the 2 weeks of vacation (32 hours) isn't used at the end of the year - do you owe her the $ remaining balance or does she lose that pay.

*I want to reward less unscheduled PTO as they create problems into MY workday - but also feel I pay a fair wage and benefits and would like to avoid writing a large check once a year.

[Anonymous]

Yes. In all fairness your nanny should receive a check for her vacation pay on top of her salary. I wrote this into our contract with our 32 hour a week nanny and was thrilled when she did't take vacation. We also pay her for all holidays and her guaranteed hours when we go out of town.

[Anonymous]

You cannot not avoid doing the right thing, OP. Pay her for her unused pro or I guarantee you she will take every minute of it next year.

[Anonymous]

I roll over one week to the following year, and pay out the rest.

[Anonymous]

In Maryland, you must pay out unused, earned leave at the end of employment UNLESS the contract says otherwise. I'm not sure about DC or VA.

I would encourage her to use her leave by specifying in the contract that only "x" amount will roll over as the above poster does, and unused leave will be paid out at the end of employment (not the end of the year).

[Anonymous]

make her use 1 week of it this year, and you should decide whether to roll over or payout the other week.

My company (and many others) are use it or lose it.

[Anonymous]

Pay it out. It's cheaper for me to pay it out than find additional care for those days anyway.

[Anonymous]

If you chose not to pay it out she don't be surprised if she chooses to take all available pto next year. If you're willing to pay out 1 week and roll over 1 week that may be a fair way of handling it that doesn't leave her feeling like she HAS to take all her pto each year.

[Anonymous]

OP, you say you feel you pay a fair wage and benefits. Her PTO IS her her benefit. If you choose not to pay out unused PTO, you've made your job much less valuable. She may not expect you to pay it out, perhaps she is expecting it to roll over, and she wants to take a longer trip next year. Don't bite yourself in the ass by trying to have your cake and eat it too.

[Anonymous]

Of course you pay it out.

[Anonymous]

I don't pay for unused sick leave at the end of the year and you should have a weather policy instead of also lumping that in PTO. If you keep vacation separate from the other two, you can decide whether to allow carry over from one year to the next and the maximum amount of vacation you will allow to carry over before vacation must be taken or it stops accruing. I think a certain amount of carry over is okay (1-2 weeks) but you want employees to take vacation for their own mental and physical wellbeing, even if their absence inconveniences you. At the end of employment, all unused vacation should be paid out immediately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't pay for unused sick leave at the end of the year and you should have a weather policy instead of also lumping that in PTO. If you keep vacation separate from the other two, you can decide whether to allow carry over from one year to the next and the maximum amount of vacation you will allow to carry over before vacation must be taken or it stops accruing. I think a certain amount of carry over is okay (1-2 weeks) but you want employees to take vacation for their own mental and physical wellbeing, even if their absence inconveniences you. At the end of employment, all unused vacation should be paid out immediately.

I'd make sure to use up the sick leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't pay for unused sick leave at the end of the year and you should have a weather policy instead of also lumping that in PTO. If you keep vacation separate from the other two, you can decide whether to allow carry over from one year to the next and the maximum amount of vacation you will allow to carry over before vacation must be taken or it stops accruing. I think a certain amount of carry over is okay (1-2 weeks) but you want employees to take vacation for their own mental and physical wellbeing, even if their absence inconveniences you. At the end of employment, all unused vacation should be paid out immediately.

I'd make sure to use up the sick leave.

That could happen but fortunately have never had nannies do that.

[Anonymous]

What does your contract say?

I'd roll a year and pay out a balance if we didn't have an agreement in the contract, for the reason you stated - you want to reward 'scheduled' time off and minimize December flu with call outs to use days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:make her use 1 week of it this year, and you should decide whether to roll over or payout the other week.

My company (and many others) are use it or lose it.

It's not fair to tell someone on December 20th that they have to use a week of vacation within the next 11 days. That's something that should have been told to the employee when they started employment.