EDITOR'S POST

How does paid time off work?

Q. How does paid time off work?

A. Paid vacations are the most obvious form of paid time off. Good managers insist that employee take vacations to make sure that the enterprise can run without any particular person. Depending on your rank and the time with the company, you are allowed a certain number of vacation days per year (either calendar year or work year based on your date of hire). Some companies allow you to carry over unused vacation days into the next year and/or to be paid for not using all the earned vacation days. Unlike sick days, vacations should be planned.

Holidays: most US companies observe New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Many also observe the day after Thanksgiving, Presidents' Day, and Martin Luther King Day. Some observe religious holidays, like Good Friday or Yom Kippur. Many companies offer some set holidays and some floating holidays that you can use for your own birthday, a religious holiday, or treat it as part of the vacation.

Sick/personal days are often treated as floating vacation days as well. Many companies ask you to telephone your manager every day when you're out sick, so you don't quite call in sick and go to the beach. An employee is often allotted a certain number of sick/personal days off per year. Unlike vacation, unused sick days and floating holidays are usually forfeited at end of a year.

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