Vacation Time Policies

Many companies offer employees two weeks of paid vacation time per year, although they are not legally required to. According to an article on Entrepreneur.com, offering employees a good benefits package that includes paid vacation time is an effective way to keep the workforce happy and committed to the company.

Amount

• The industry standard for paid vacation time off is two weeks per year. However, some companies offer employees more paid time off the longer they are employed at the company. For instance, when employees reach their five year anniversary with a company, their reward may be four weeks of paid vacation time rather than two weeks. These types of policies are up to the discretion of the company.

Requests

• Employees must submit requests for vacation time to their supervisors in advance. Supervisors can choose to approve or disapprove the requests. Requesting vacation time in advance allows supervisors the time to prepare the department in case others must cover for the individual going on vacation.

Accrual

• Some companies give employees all of their available vacation hours for the year upfront, while other companies use an accrual method. In an accrual method, employees build up their paid time off by accumulating hours earned for every pay period. If employees get a total of two weeks off per year, the number of hours they accumulate per pay period would be calculated accordingly.