Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 20, 2023 15 mize the time that you have with your friends and family — we don't ever want you to feel that you can't do something because you're in fear of not getting paid," Olsen said. Theory vs. practice Lewis, the HR consultant, said that unlimited paid time off is often better in theory than practice and it can some- times create workplace culture issues. "Instead of your company tracking your PTO, your coworkers do. That's the most problematic part of this in my view," Lewis said, adding it could create a negative workplace vibe. "It's a sucker bet, it's a marketing ploy, it's a false sense of commitment by the employer to work-life balance for many, not all companies, but many," Lewis said. Another issue, Lewis said, is companies offering unlimited PTO on paper but "not having the appe- tite" for it when an employee actually takes advantage of it. Having a set number of paid days off as part of the policy removes that gray area. "How much is the right number of days to take off? How much is too much?" Lewis pondered. Luise said there were growing pains when ADNET rolled out its PTO policy. Employees that had been at the company for several years and accrued more vaca- tion days than their peers were initially skeptical. "There was an entitlement issue that we really had to get through, and U.S. paid time-off policy breakdown for 2022 Source: Sorbet's 2022 PTO report we did," Luise said. "We just leaned into" the notion that "we're being fair to everybody here, and we're going to be fair on the very first day you start." He said employees usually take off a few days to a week more now than they did prior to the policy being implemented. Only one employee has taken advantage of the benefit to the point where human resources got involved, he added. Olsen said that, even without tracking time off, the typical employee takes about two-and-a-half weeks of vacation annually. Olsen Construction has some workers who take closer to a month off, but most employees stick around the average. And flexible time-off policies don't mean all vacation requests are approved. "They won't take a vacation when they know we're closing a project out and they need to be there, but they may take vacation the next week, or the next month, and go for three weeks," Olsen said. So, could some form of unlim- ited PTO become a trend among Connecticut employers? Olsen said "smart" companies will adapt to acknowledge the importance of work-life balance that employees increasingly desire, especially younger generations. Luise said he does think the policy can be used as a recruitment tool, but it's important for companies to have work- life balance "ingrained in their DNA," and not just used as a marketing ploy. "If you want to have a strong workforce culture, you have to think outside the box," Luise said. 41% 14% 8% 37% Use it or lose it Cash out +20% increase since 2019 Unlimited PTO +400% increase since 2019 Carry over

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