Question: Should non-smokers get extra paid leave because they don’t take cigarette breaks?

Answer:

Time will tell in the United States, but at least one Japanese company thinks so. Tokyo-based marketing firm Piala Inc. recently began providing 6 (!) extra paid days off a year to its non-smoking employees after they complained that they were working more than employees who took smoke breaks.

One goal of this policy is to give a perk to non-smokers to help compensate for the extra time off smokers take for smoke breaks.  Each smoke break is estimated to last about 15 minutes at this company given that employees have to exit the building to smoke and the office is located on the 29th floor.  The other goal of the policy is to incentivize smokers to quit smoking so they can partake in the extra paid time off.  Since the policy was adopted in September, reportedly four employees have quit smoking to qualify for the extra annual paid days off.  This approach is in contrast to the United States, which generally takes a more punitive approach to smoking, such as by charging tobacco users more for health insurance and banning tobacco use on company premises.

The concept of providing additional paid leave to non-smokers is an interesting one and one that I imagine may be contemplated or experimented with around the world.  I cannot help but consider some of the issues that may come from policing this type of policy or benefit.  For example: Does occasional social cigarette use still qualify someone as a “non-smoker?”  What if a Facebook post inadvertently includes a photo of a “non-smoking” employee smoking?  What if the picture posted is of the person on vacation using one of the extra paid days off awarded for being a “non-smoker?”  Oh no, did I just complicate this little perk with a layer of possible social media-related pitfalls!? Welcome to the realities of today’s workplace.

About the Author:  Laura Liss (lliss@pfs-law.com) is Chair of Patzik Frank and Samotny’s Employment Law Practice Group. She provides both legal and practical business advice on all phases of employment-related decisions. She regularly serves as a sounding board for business owners, executives and human resources professionals and assists them in successfully and efficiently navigating the various employment laws that impact their businesses.

Question: We’ve heard of maternity and paternity leave, but mutternity leave?

Answer:

Well, yes.  Apparently about 1 in 20 new pet owners in the United Kingdom are offered time off from work to adjust to a new pet at home.  From time off to go to the vet, to time off to bond with new pets, many employers in the UK have begun offering what’s commonly called mutternity or pawternity leave.

Maybe the UK is on to something.  Employees seem to be very appreciative of the support from their employers, which allows them paid time off to welcome new furry family members.  This type of leave also levels the playing field, so to speak, for those who are unable, or choose not, to have children and thus never take a parental leave of absence during their career.

Although a few companies in the US have followed the UK’s lead, given that we don’t yet have paid medical or parental leave in the US,  I don’t think American pet lovers should hold their breath.

About the Author:   Laura Liss is Chair of Patzik Frank and Samotny’s Employment Law Practice Group. She provides both legal and practical business advice on all phases of employment-related decisions. She regularly serves as a sounding board for business owners, executives and human resources professionals and assists them in successfully and efficiently navigating the various employment laws that affect their businesses.

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.