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Summer is here, and for many businesses, that means employees will be submitting vacation requests. However, it’s not always easy for employers to approve these requests without hesitation, and the issue of vacation accruals often influences how and when vacations are approved. Here are four questions that HR is frequently asked when it comes to employees taking time off.
1. Can we deny an employee’s use of accrued vacation time?
Yes, the decision to approve or deny the use of accrued vacation time is yours, provided you do so in a consistent and nondiscriminatory manner. It would be acceptable, for example, to deny a vacation request because approving it would leave you without adequate coverage or because the employee asked with less notice than is required by your time off policy.
You should, however, ensure that certain employees are not denied vacation disproportionately. For instance, if an employer’s administrative staff (who are all women), or their software engineers (who are all men), are consistently denied vacation because arranging coverage is difficult and deadlines are abundant, this could lead to claims of discrimination.
If you have “use it or lose it” vacation policy, you may want to change it to a system where hours roll over from one benefit year to another (up to a reasonable cap) so employees don’t feel like they need to use up their vacation by a specific date or risk losing the benefit. In any case, be sure to notify employees of any changes to your policy.
2. Can we legally make our employees use their accumulated vacation hours?
Yes. An employer can instruct an employee to take time off. However, that rarely bodes well for the employee’s morale if they don’t want to take the time off.
Some employers have a “use-it-or-lose-it” policy, where any remaining vacation time is forfeited if not used by a specific date. But these kinds of policies are not legal in all states. If your state doesn’t allow use-it-or-lose-it, or the employee isn’t willing or able to take off as much time as you would like, you could instead pay them for the hours they’re unable to use. This option is acceptable in every state and reduces the potential for low morale.
If you’d prefer employees use up the time, it’s best to give them at least three months’ notice (even more is better) so they can plan for what they’ll do with their free time and coordinate with friends and family.
Ensure that you apply these policies and practices consistently throughout the organization. And if you’re introducing a new standard, such as a use-it-or-lose-it policy or a payout on December 31st, make sure employees are informed of the policy in writing.
3. Can we request more details when an employee marks “personal” as the reason for requesting a vacation day?
You can generally ask employees to provide more information when they indicate that their vacation or PTO request is for personal reasons, but we don’t recommend it. The specific reasons for the day off shouldn’t affect whether you grant the request, and you don’t want to give the impression that you’re accepting or denying requests based on the reasons that are given. It may also be information that an employee doesn’t want to share.
If the time off requested is problematic for scheduling and you’re trying to assess whether the employee could take off a different day or time (or if the company should grant the request despite the inconvenience), we recommend having a conversation with the employee rather than digging for details without telling them why you’re asking.
This advice applies only to time off that you offer as a company benefit; time off required by federal, state, or local law will have its own requirements regarding what you can or cannot ask.
4. Can we offer employees different amounts of vacation or PTO time?
If the differing amounts of vacation or PTO are based on clearly defined employee groupings, such as seniority, department, or exempt versus non-exempt status, then yes. It’s a common practice, for example, for employers to offer employees who have been with the organization for longer more vacation time.
Where you can run into trouble is offering different amounts of vacation on an individual basis or without clearly-defined criteria, either of which can lead to discrimination claims. For instance, if Rafik and Anita are hired at the same time for similar jobs in the accounting department at the same rate of pay, but the organization offers Rafik more vacation time, Anita could potentially bring a claim under federal or state discrimination or pay equity laws.
Effectively Manage Employee Vacation Requests
Regardless of your policy on employee time off, you need a system that can seamlessly manage it all and ensure all hours and vacations are accurately tracked and integrated into your payroll. That’s what you get with GTM’s HCM platform, isolved. Additionally, you can track and monitor meals, breaks, and overtime, calculate and manage compensatory time, set up geofencing to track employee locations when they clock in and out, identify errors, and manage other time policies for complete and accurate timecards. Request a free quote today or download our brochure below to learn more about our services.
