Question: Should we switch to Paid Time Off rather than vacation and sick time?

Answer:

Over the last several years, there seems to be a growing trend towards Paid Time Off (PTO) policies.  Employees like PTO because it provides more flexibility in taking time off, and employers like PTO because of the ease of administration.

In deciding what is best for your company, it is helpful to consider your company’s absenteeism records, how much administrative time is spent managing time off, your employees’ attitudes toward work, and whether supervisors would be comfortable with a more flexible time off system, which gives employees more control over their time off.

Here are some of the main pros and cons of using one pool of PTO, rather than separate vacation, sick and personal days:

Pros

• PTO is more flexible for employees and gives them added privacy in that they don’t need to specify the reason for the time off,
• PTO can be used more equally, for example, for employees who are never sick or don’t have dependents to care for,
• PTO helps control unplanned absences, and
• PTO is easier to administer because employers don’t have to track the type of time off used.

Cons

• PTO can be viewed as all vacation time,
• PTO can cause employees to come to work sick because they don’t want to “waste” a vacation day,
• Employees may use up PTO early in the year and then get sick late in the year with no PTO left to use, which means employers end up providing additional unpaid time off, and
• Employers in Illinois generally have to pay out accrued but unused PTO when an employee leaves the company so PTO can increase liability (whereas sick time typically does not have to be paid out).  This can be mitigated by capping how much PTO can be accrued.

In weighing the various paid time off options, companies increasingly have been adopting PTO policies.  However, with more and more cities, states and counties passing paid sick leave laws, this trend may discontinue.  Alternatively, PTO policies may continue but get a lot more complicated. For example, Chicago and Cook County both passed paid sick leave laws that take effect July 1, 2017.  Such laws require employers to provide employees a set amount of paid sick time to be used for specified purposes and many of these laws, including Chicago’s and Cook County’s, require employers to allow employees to carryover a certain amount of unused sick time. This means employers may need to allocate some PTO days as sick time and track it as such.

If you’re thinking this would do away with some of the reasons for choosing PTO in the first place, you’re absolutely right.  With the rise of paid sick leave laws, PTO policies are getting a lot more complex.

Question: Can private employers provide comp time to hourly employees rather than overtime?

Answer:

No, private employers cannot offer hourly (or non-exempt) employees compensatory (comp) time in lieu of overtime. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), non-exempt employees must be paid time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a work week.

One common misconception is that it is allowable to provide comp time in lieu of overtime if the employee agrees. However, even if the employee agrees, or even prefers it, private employers cannot allow employees to accrue comp time in lieu of paying them overtime. Likewise, this is not permissible even if you allow the use of comp time in the same pay period. For example, you can’t allow an employee to work 34 hours one week, to offset the employee having worked 46 hours the prior week of a bi-weekly pay period. Even though the employee nets 80 hours in the pay period, the employee still worked 6 hours of overtime the first week of the pay period and is entitled to be paid time and one-half for those 6 hours of overtime.

Stay tuned, however. Congress currently is considering the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2017, which could amend the FLSA to allow employers to bank paid time off in lieu of paying overtime. The bill has conditions and limits and other nuances to be aware of, but we can worry about those details if and when the bill passes. In the meantime, stick with paying overtime.

Question: We have an employee who has body odor, what do we do?

Answer:

If you’ve dealt with this issue in your workplace, then you know it’s a delicate one.  HR (or the person who wears the HR hat) usually has the unenviable job of addressing such issues.

You should give the employee fair warning and allow the employee a reasonable chance to correct the issue. The employee needs to understand that body odor negatively affects other employees and reduces the quality of the work environment.  This in turn can impact the productivity of the employee’s team.  You want to convey to the employee that failing to take steps to correct the problem shows a disregard for the team.

As long as the body odor is not being caused by a medical condition, you can discipline (or even ultimately terminate) an employee for body odor.   Most employees are at-will, meaning you can terminate them at any time, with or without case, with or without notice.  Smelling bad is not a protected class, but the employee may have a disability that causes body odor.  Thus, you should try to ensure that the employee does not have a medical condition that is causing the body odor before administering discipline.

Employers can address the issue via a dress code policy, which includes requiring good hygiene in the workplace.  While it seems obvious, having a policy requiring employees to use good hygiene and to come to work wearing clean and professional attire, can be helpful.  When the issue arises, it gives you a policy to rely upon, which sometimes can be easier than addressing the issue in the abstract.

While on the topic of odors, even good odors, such as cologne, perfume, strong lotions, and air fresheners can bring challenges in the workplace.  While one employee may think a certain smell is pleasant, others may not agree and even suffer allergic reactions from them.  Strong smells can be distracting or even create health issues for employees.  For example, powerful scents can be migraine-inducing for some.  It’s a good idea for your dress code policy or other similar policy to address scents in the workplace, including both good or bad scents.  Fragrances should be avoided or used in moderation only.  Some employers even implement a scent free zone at work.  That may sound extreme, that is, until you have to deal with such a conflict.