Vacation policy

[latarpley]

What is the name of your state? GA
While vacations benefits are not required, I would like to have an opion if this policy seems out of line. Employees accumilate Personal Time Off (PTO) and can use this time after their first year. Houlrly people can take PTO by the hour and salaried by the day. PTO is awarded on your anniversary(hire) date.Here are the rules per our Regional manager. None of these rules are listed in the PTO section of the HR manual:

1. No PTO time can be taken during any Holiday week(10) or during high volume weeks.
2. Vacations may not exceed 7 days
3. Vacations must start on Saturday and end on Friday
4. You must request 30 days in adance
5. You may not carry over unused PTO. Unsued PTO wil not be paid.
6. Vacations(week long) must be taken May15-Oct15.

Note: Seven managers and one District Mgr are included in this policy along with 35 hourly employees. The District Manger can not be off when a manager is off. This policy is enforced regardless if all stores can be properly staffed during the time period a person request off.

Any opinions? The reason I ask is that people have been disciplined and fired over this policy.

 

[cbg]

If you want to know whether or not the policy violates any state or federal laws, the answer is that it does not. Since vacation benefits are not required by any state or federal law, companies are free to set whatever restrictions on the use of vacation that they wish as long as such restrictions do not violate any discrimination laws, which these do not.

If you are asking whether or not these benefits are competetive, I cannot tell you that without knowledge of other benefit plans within your industry and area.

 

[latarpley]

I completely understand there is nothing that would prevent such policy restrictions, but I feel the policy is too prohibitive. The creator of these restrictions states they are in place to avoid vacatons disputes. His thought process is to dissallow any vacation during periods when most people want to take days. Because this takes away about 13 of the 52 weeks available so this causes the time limits for other weeks. My example being that my anniversary is mid Oct. I can not take any vaction days at all until May 15 and must use my 2 weeks before October. It is impossible to schedule everybody off. If you are not able to take your days then you loose them. My question is really have you ever seen such a restrictive policy? and as a third party looking in does is seem on the surface to be unfair?

I have never worked for a company with rules like this?

We are a national company, coast to coast, and the rules I relay in this post are amendments made by a regional manager. They are not per se company policy, but his requirements.

 

[cbg]

If you feel that the policy is too restrictive, and it is not enforced nationally, you need to take your concerns to your corporate HR office.