PTO Passing the Tipping Point? Majority of Employers Report Pooled Leave Plans

A recent survey by BLR confirms that PTO, or pooled leave, plans have overtaken traditional plans (which feature individual policies ofr vacation, sick and personal leave) in popularity.

According to BLR's 2010 Survey of Paid Time Off Practices, 54% of over 2,000 respondents had a PTO plan in place rather than separate paid leave plans.  In contrast, BLR's 2007 Survey of Employee Benefits found only 43% using a PTO plan (and Watson Wyatt's 2007/2008 Survey Report on Benefits - from my own bookshelf - shows only 35% of participants reporting a pooled leave program).

Features of the reported PTO plans are summarized below:

Types of leave included in the reported plans (percent of respondents):

Sick - 90%
 
Vacation - 94%
 
Holidays - 29%
 
Personal Days - 84%
 
Death in Family - 32%
 
Care for Dependents - 45%
 
Other - 8%

PTO days allowed per year (percent of respondents):

1-5 days - 8%
 
6-10 days - 15%
 
11-19 days - 42%
 
20-24 days - 21%
 
25+ days - 15%
 

Maximum number of days that can be accumulated (percent of respondents):

1-9 days - 9%
 
10-19 days - 15%
 
20-29 days - 29%
 
30-59 days - 26%
 
60-89 days - 5%
 
90+ days - 9%
 
No limit - 8%
 

Plan allows PTO days to be carried over from year to year (percent of respondents):

Yes - 72%
 
No - 28%

Interesting - and hopefully helpful - data for any of you that may be having the PTO discussion at your organization.