Employee staycation—PTO policies in the age of COVID-19

Throughout 2020, employers have faced uncertainty and challenges because of the COVID-19 outbreak. While you should prepare to adapt to any changes the pandemic presents, additional challenges will arise, including employees using paid time off (PTO). To avoid the spread of the virus, many continue to cancel trips and vacations, and PTO is going unused. The current state of the pandemic doesn’t indicate vacation as usual will resume in the months remaining in 2020. The unused PTO could result in issues for employers at the end of the year and even into 2021.

Managing the flood

As a discretionary benefit, PTO in Iowa is governed primarily by any published policy of an employer that complies with Iowa Code 91A. Iowa employers’ policies control how PTO is accrued and used. As a result, you must look to your policies to prepare for specific issues that may arise from the pandemic, including a flood of end-of-year requests.

You can set rules in your PTO policy and can modify the policy to take into consideration pandemic and post-pandemic business needs. If you decide to make modifications to your PTO policy, you should evaluate whether the approval process, pay-out, or “cap” policies should be changed in light of the pandemic.

Preapproval process