Cook County-area business owners share their approach to PTO

According to a recent survey from the Society for Human Resource Management, more than 80% of workers said that “paid leave” is either an extremely important or very important benefit they expect from their employer, ranking just below health insurance and retirement benefits.

The survey found that most employers (68%) combine vacation and sick time with average paid leave increasing anywhere from 12 to 26 days off a year depending on employee’s tenure at the company.

Under the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (and the Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance law) employers must provide up to 40 hours of paid time off per 12-month period for any reason. Employees earn 1 hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked and can use it after 90 days of employment

There’s little debate that paid time off — or PTO — is an extremely important benefit. The good news for small businesses is that PTO can come in many forms to suit a company’s culture. What’s makes sense for your company? Here are some examples from a few local business owners.

Traditional PTO with enhanced benefits

At Northfield’s Flex HR — an HR outsourcing firm, CEO Jennifer Morehead says her 40-employee HR outsourcing firm offers a traditional “but generous” PTO plan which allows employees to receive three weeks of PTO immediately upon hire, increasing to four weeks after five years of service. Employees also receive 12 paid holidays and a paid day off on their birthday.

Morehead believes time off has become one of the most valued employee benefits and prefers a structured approach over other options like unlimited leave.

Traditional PTO with tenure-based increases

At Kelleher + Holland, a full-service law firm in North Barrington, employees receive 15 days of PTO annually during their first five years and 20 days after reaching five years of service, with accrual beginning on their first day of employment. Permanent part-time employees working more than 20 hours per week receive PTO at half the full-time accrual rate.

“Our PTO plan is tied to tenure,” said Jill Galante a managing director of the firm. “We like the more traditional professional-services approach, where benefits increase as employees stay with the organization.”

Accrued PTO with carryover and tax-season bonus time

At accounting firm GLM in Schaumburg, PTO is combined with flexible work arrangements.

“Employees accrue about two weeks of PTO annually during their first five years and about three weeks thereafter,” said Ruth Kronvold, the firm’s HR Manager. “Our company also allows approved negative PTO balances and permits unused time to carry over from year to year.”

Accounting firms like GLM are unique in that they have seasonal work demands.

“During tax season, employees who work more than 50 hours per week receive both overtime pay and additional paid time off, creating a unique reward system during the firm's busiest period,” Kronvold said.

Flexible Time Off (FTO) based on outcomes, not accruals

Maureen Pistone, the Chief HR Officer at Wipfli — an accounting firm similar to GLM in Tinley Park — says that her firm replaced its traditional PTO system with a flexible time off program in 2022.

“Our firm focuses on outcomes rather than tracking accrued vacation balances, while still expecting our employees to coordinate time off with colleagues and meet client commitments,” she said. “The policy applies to both full-time and part-time employees and is designed to encourage employees to take time away from work without worrying about maintaining a PTO bank.”

Unlimited PTO with monthly mental health days

Unlimited PTO plans have become a growing trend. My firm offers this benefit as does the Chicago-based tech firm Hireology.

“We adopted an unlimited, discretionary PTO policy that allows employees to take time off as needed with manager approval,” said Terry Adams, the company’s Vice President of People. “The company supplements the policy with monthly mental health days, reflecting its focus on employee well-being.”

Adams says the flexibility helps employees better balance their professional and personal responsibilities while giving them greater control over their schedules.

But unlimited PTO isn’t for everyone.

Morehead believes unlimited PTO sounds attractive “in theory” but frequently falls short in practice because employees and managers may have different expectations about how much time is appropriate to take.

“In my experience, unlimited PTO sounds better than it performs,” she said. “One big concern is that some employees actually take less time off because they worry about how their manager will perceive it, while others may take more time than expected.”

Morehead also raised concerns about Illinois PTO laws, which requires employers to pay employees for earned but unused vacation time when they leave a company.

“Unlimited PTO can create legal and administrative complications if the policy is not carefully structured,” she said.

Gallante agrees and says that her firm has not felt pressure from the labor market to adopt unlimited PTO.

“Our existing PTO program remains competitive enough to attract and retain employees,” she said. “We really have no need to offer an unlimited plan.”

Gene Marks is a CPA who owns and operates The Marks Group PC, experts in customer relationship management technologies.