Buffalo Business First: Unlimited PTO policies: They offer flexibility, but require lots of communication

By Katie Anderson  –  Reporter, Buffalo Business First - Jun 16, 2023

Since its beginning in 2015, StaffBuffalo LLC has offered unlimited paid time off for employees.

“We never saw employees abusing it,” she said. “In positions I’ve held in the past, I wouldn’t want to take a half-day for something like a doctor’s appointment that came up. I would want to save that PTO for a true vacation and recharge.”

“The hiring market is tough right now, so this is an extra benefit to offer new employees,” Lewis said. “If an employee has to leave a couple hours early for an appointment or to see their kid’s kindergarten graduation, they don’t have to worry about it cutting into their PTO.”

“You have to know how to manage it appropriately as an employer and an employee,” Lewis said.

That’s why, with unlimited PTO, managers or supervisors should be checking in regularly with staff to make sure they are taking the time off they need without hurting productivity, Lewis said.

And while employers and managers can deny time off requests, even in an unlimited PTO setup, it’s “probably not a good look” to do that.

“You don’t want to have to be in that position,” Lewis said. “So, you really have to keep communication open around time off, performance and workload.”

“You want to make sure the work is still getting done,” Lewis said. “You still want to make sure you’re providing the same standard of service to your clients and customers.”

As StaffBuffalo has grown, Lewis said, she has had some employees prefer a more structured approach to PTO.

“For some people, if you have a set amount of PTO, you’re more likely to strategize how to use it throughout the year,” Lewis said. “Sometimes, if they take a chunk of it at a time, it feels like too much. You find that people further along in their career know how to manage their workload and make sure the work is still getting done a little better in comparison with a younger employee or someone new to an organization.”

“Manufacturing could be more difficult, because they have to make sure the machines are running, and they have a certain benchmark for product going out,” she said.

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