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Vacation pay is the compensation that employees receive when they take time off from work for vacation. The rules around an organization’s vacation pay are typically set out in its paid time off (PTO) policy. Where it is offered, vacation pay forms part of an employee’s compensation, and it is typically paid at the same rate as an employee’s usual wage.
Paid vacation leave is not mandatory in the US. However, many American companies choose to offer it as part of their employee benefits package.
While many companies offer paid time off so that their employees receive vacation pay, note that others may offer unpaid vacation leave. This allows employees to take time off, but without compensation.
The laws around paid leave vary depending on your location. Countries or localities outside of the US may require employers to provide vacation pay.
How Does Vacation Pay Benefit Employers?
Paid vacation time is one of the most important benefits you can offer your employees. And while it’s easy to see why employees want paid vacations, there are significant benefits for employers as well.
Time off from work is essential for your employees’ physical and mental well-being. It helps prevent workplace burnout by reducing stress. It allows them time to rest away from work. Your employees then return with better morale as well as higher levels of engagement and productivity.
Offering vacation pay also demonstrates your support for your employees’ well-being. In turn, this increases staff loyalty, reducing turnover.
Employees highly value paid vacation leave when looking at potential employers. According to employee benefits provider Unum, generous paid time off is the top non-insurance benefit for US workers. Offering vacation pay helps you remain a competitive employer and attract the best candidates to a role.
In the US, even though vacation pay is not mandatory, employers recognize its importance. In a recent SHRM survey, of the 3,129 respondent employers, 99% said they offered paid vacation leave.
How Does Vacation Pay Work?
When can employees access their vacation pay?
There are several ways that employers calculate the amount of vacation pay you’ll receive and when you can cash in on it.
One common method is accrued leave. Under this approach, you’ll earn paid vacation leave based on the number of hours, days, weeks, months, or years you work.
For example, a company may offer their employees 80 hours (10 days) of vacation pay a year. The company’s full-time employees work 2000 hours a year. So, they accrue 0.04 hours of vacation pay for every hour they work (80 hours / 2080 hours). In this system, you cannot use your vacation days until you have worked enough hours to “earn” them.
Alternatively, some employers offer annual leave. This is a bank of paid vacation days automatically given to employees at the start of the year. Subject to approval, you can use this leave immediately rather than waiting to earn it with an equivalent amount of hours worked.
If we follow the same example as above, where employees receive 80 hours of paid vacation leave, under this system, you’d receive your paid vacation days on January 1. You could then use these days as you wish throughout the year.
If you’re new to an organization, your employer may require you to work a certain amount of time before you can access your vacation pay. For example, some employers require employees to be with the company six months before taking vacation leave. The amount of vacation pay you can accrue or receive may also increase the longer you are with an organization.
As an employer, whichever way you calculate paid leave, it’s important to clearly set out the rules around it. You can do this by including it in your employment contracts, onboarding materials, and employee handbook. This ensures employees understand their entitlements. It also helps managers and HR apply the policy correctly and fairly.
How much vacation pay should you offer employees?
If you are an employer, local regulations or collective bargaining agreements may set the amount of vacation pay you offer. Outside of these, you are free to decide how much vacation pay to give your employees.
A good guide is the average number of paid vacation leave days employers offer in your country.
In the US, private sector employees receive on average 11 days paid vacation days after one year of service. This amount typically increases over time. After 20 years with an organization, employees eventually receive an average of 20 paid vacation days.
In some countries, the number of paid vacation days you must offer employees is mandated by law. Here are some examples of the number of paid vacation days required per year by law in other countries.
- 29 in Germany
- 27 in Australia
- 18 in India
- 30 in Argentina
Is vacation pay taxed?
An employee’s vacation pay is typically taxed like their regular wages. However, the specific rules and tax rates that apply to vacation pay will vary depending on your business’s location.
It’s important to check your local regulations so that you can withhold and pay any necessary tax.
Different rules also may apply to vacation payouts. Vacation payouts are lump sum payments that employees receive for any vacation pay they are owed at the time that they leave an organization.
Check your local PTO payout laws to confirm whether you’re legally required to provide PTO payouts for employees who are leaving, including for vacation pay. Collective bargaining agreements may also mandate them. Otherwise, you can decide whether to include vacation payouts in your PTO policy.
Vacation payouts may be taxed at a different rate than the vacation pay employees receive when taking a day off. Again, it’s important to check your local regulations.
What to Consider When Designing a Paid Vacation Policy
As an employer, you should address vacation pay in your PTO policy. This ensures that your employees understand their entitlements and how to access them. It also helps your managers and payroll to properly apply vacation pay rules.
The first step when addressing vacation payments in your PTO policy is to check if any relevant local laws or regulations apply. Vacation pay may also be addressed in collective bargaining agreements.
Subject to any local regulations or collective bargaining agreement, you can then decide how to offer vacation pay.
What’s the difference between PTO and vacation pay? Both are employee benefits. However, PTO is a broader term that refers to all the types of leave an employee can take and receive pay for. In contrast, employees only receive pay when they take vacation leave.
Some organizations don’t offer specific vacation pay. Instead, they offer a bank of general PTO days. Employees can use these days for any type of leave—vacation, sick leave, or a personal day—and be paid for it.
Make sure your official documents clearly explain how your PTO policy is structured. Vacation pay may be one type of PTO you offer employees or it might be included in a single PTO policy.
When addressing vacation pay, it’s important to consider the following details.
- How it is allocated or accrued
- The approval process to take leave and receive vacation pay
- The rate of vacation pay
- How long an employee has to work before being entitled
- Whether the amount of vacation pay an employee is entitled to increases with years of service
- Whether you offer standalone paid vacation leave or include it as part of your general PTO policy
- Whether vacation pay applies to all employees (if it applies to part-time or seasonal employees, it is typically prorated)
- Whether employees can carry over their leftover vacation pay to the next year.
It’s worth noting that some locations don’t allow employers to apply a “use or lose it” policy to PTO carryover. This means employees can’t be forced to forfeit any unused vacation leave at the end of the year.
Finally, the rules around vacation pay in your organization must be fair and transparent. They should not discriminate against any employees. Most countries have laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace.
Your vacation pay rules can accommodate differences between types of employees. For example, your vacation pay policy may distinguish between full-time and part-time employees. But they cannot apply differently to employees based on reasons such as race, religion, gender, age, or disabilities. This would be a violation of workplace discrimination law.
Conclusion
Vacation pay is an essential employee benefit. Even if you’re not legally required to offer it, there are many advantages to paying your employees while they are on leave. Vacation pay supports your employees’ physical and mental well-being. It also helps increase their loyalty and productivity.
As an employee, make sure to check out potential jobs’ vacation pay policies when considering jobs. You may even want to negotiate for a better deal.
As an employer, you should clearly set out the rules around vacation pay entitlements in your PTO policy. These include how vacation pay is earned and what happens to any unused vacation pay. Before doing so, check your local laws and regulations, including tax rules, so that everything is clear and above board.
