One of my friends shared the absolute worst paid time off plan I have ever seen. The plan is “unlimited” PTO, but there’s a catch. To get your PTO approved, you have to explain what you are doing, how much time you need, and the whole department votes on whether or not you can take it or not.
The logic is—and I did ask—that because the co-workers have to pick up your slack while you’re gone, it’s only fair that they have a say.
I have seen a lot of PTO policies, and many of them are dumb, but this one exceeds the stupidity of all the other ones. I am not generally a fan of increased regulation, but this one has such a high risk of illegal discrimination that you should pretend it’s illegal. I’m going to break down why this is so awful.
Unlimited PTO means zero PTO
If there were truly unlimited paid time off, you would never have to work. We call that retirement. It’s not a job.
To keep reading, click here: The 1 PTO Policy So Bad It Should Be Illegal
PTO use, especially if it’s a paid time by the employer should have some kind of regimen of limitations for when using that time affects the performance of the business. The employee is basically hired to work for the employer not the other way around. In other words, it’s possible to plan out your PTO and still have available time for those “emergency” situations where you, the employee, suddenly need the time off. If those emergency situations happen to have a regular occurrence, then a schedule change should be arranged so that both the employer’s needs for the job and the employee’s personal needs are met. But the priority does fall to the employer who is paying/providing this PTO.