I employ 5-10 unskilled people at any given time. Mostly for assembly and packing. They get two weeks PTO, and at least a week of paid vacation throughout the year when we close for holidays, mostly more.
At the end of the day the total annual cost to provide this is well worth the drama it keeps out of the workplace.
Sick days? Take as many as you need. I don’t want sick people at the office.
We all come into this with a lot of context. However, America has I think something like the highest average and median wages outside the Nordics [0, 1]. And the Nordics are potentially a statistical aberration.
If somebody "gets" 2 weeks of paid time off, but at the end of the year their average salary is (50/52)% of someone who gets no PTO, are they really being paid for time off? It doesn't look paid to me.
The real benefit would be a culture where you can take unpaid time off then return to the same job later on. The per-hour pay is likely to correct quietly via ye olde market forces, and everyone enjoys the best of all worlds. High pay if they want it, time off if they want it.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_w...
How much does it cost an american worker to take 2 weeks off? If that means unemployment, new job search and your own health care payments, it might be much more expensive than that.
> median wage ... OECD
any idea how they calculated the purchasing power for the US?
For salaried employees I just give them an FTO policy instead. As long as things are getting done I just don't care. I'm not interesting in creating a hostile work environment to save a few thousand dollars a year.
Always maintained an above average hourly salary and benefits offering for retail staff. Their turnover is considerably lower than other big box retail (Walmart around 40%, Costco around 17%).
Not to mention the cost reduction of not having to retrain someone who is only going to quit/get fired in six months.
I hire people trained or untrained for my shed manufacturing business. Younger (under 25 years) people try to pull the "my stomach is hurting" and take the rest of the day off. I tell them they need to go see the doctor and bring a note from the doctor excusing the time off they need for their sickness. Otherwise, I don't get decent workweeks out of them younglings.
Unless an employee has demonstrated that they can't take leave appropriately, you really should get out of their business and let them use the benefits they're entitled to.
I spent 6 years in the Air Force and the military sends you to sick call for you to be excused from duty. If an employee at MY business doesn't want to follow my policy for sick time, they are at liberty to work elsewhere or not at all.
