Appendix A

Group Outline

Paid Time Off

I.  Thesis: Most employees believe that paid time off generally entails only vacations, sick time and holidays.

a.  Paid leave is one of the most common benefits offered by employers.( according to Facts from EBRI)

II.  Vacation

a.  Paid vacation time is a voluntary benefit that organizations offer to employees.

i.  Employees usually accrue hours of paid vacation time at a certain rate for each day worked.

1.  Employers use different formulas to calculate vacation time.

b.  Employers have different rules regarding what an employee can do with unused vacation leave at the end of the calendar year. In 1997, among full-time employees in medium and large private establishments, 23 percent could carry over some or all of the unused vacation leave; 13 percent could only cash in the unused leave; and 8 percent could either carry over or cash in the unused leave. Forty-nine percent lost unused vacation leave( according to Facts from EBRI)

c.  Federal regulations

i.  – There are no federal regulations requiring employers to provide vacation days.

d.  Statistics

i.  79% of employees have access to paid vacations according to Bureau of Labor statistics survey in 2003

e.  95 percent of full-time employees in medium and large private establishmentsa were eligible to participate in paid vacation leave.( according to Facts from EBRI)

f.  The average annual number of vacation days ranged from 9.6 days after one year of service to 21.5 days after 25 years of service..( according to Facts from EBRI)

III.  Holidays

a.  Organizations commonly provide nine to ten days per year as public holidays, but there is no enforced standard.

b.  By law, employers cannot prevent an employee from observing a religious holiday if it is that employee’s belief or practice.

c.  Federal regulations

i.  There are ten federal holidays recognized by Congress but are not observed by all employers.

d.  State regulations

i.  In addition to federal holidays, some employers observe state and local holidays.

e.  Statistics

i.  79% of employees have access to paid holidays according to Bureau of Labor statistics survey in 2003

f.  89 percent of full-time employees in medium and large private establishmentsa were eligible to participate in paid holidays. ( according to Facts from EBRI)

g.  Among full-time employees in medium and large private establishments in 1997, the average number of paid holidays was 9.3 days per year ( according to Facts from EBRI)

IV.  Jury Duty

a.  State regulations

i.  Your employer must allow you time off to serve on a jury.

1.  law. Section 230 of the California Labor Code

2.  The California Education Code (§§ 44037 and 8 7036) and Rule of Court 5.5(d)(7) protect teachers, other school employees, and students as well.

3.  If harassed or fired, contact your local jury office or the judge assigned to your trial.

a.  If your employer has harassed you because of your service on a jury, contact the Department of Industrial Relation's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

i.  You must complete a complaint form and turn it in to the Labor Board within six months from when the harassment happened

b.  Federal regulations

i.  Federal laws require employers to give employees time off to serve on a jury.

1.  employers may not discipline employees who properly take time off for jury or witness duty and should assume that they may be on jury leave for an indefinite time.

ii.  Federal law and most state laws do not require employees to be paid for time spent away from work because of jury or witness obligations.

1.  Employers should note that employees who are exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act must be paid for the whole week for any workweek in which they serve as a juror or witness and also perform actual work

2.  Employees do not have to be paid for any workweek in which they serve as a juror or witness and do not perform any work

C. Statistics

i. 70% of all employees have access to paid jury duty leave according to a 2003 Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey

ii. 87 % of employers offer paid leave for jury duty service.

D.  Controversial Issue

i. In July 2000 jurors began receiving $15 per day for jury service on the second day and every day of service thereafter. This–the first increase in 43 years–was the Judicial Council’s first step toward its goal of increasing juror fees to $40 per day.

V.  Maternity Leave

a.  State Regulations

i.  Leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) may total up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period.

ii.  Paid Family Leave- SB 1661 (kuehl)

1.  Beginning July 1, 2004, workers will receive up to 6 weeks of paid leave per year to care for a new child (birth, adoption, or foster care) or seriously ill family member (parent, child, spouse, or domestic partner).

2.  Worker payments begin January 1, 2004. Benefits begin July 1, 2004

a.  This program is 100% employee-funded. A minimum wage earner will pay an additional $11.23 a year into SDI, while the estimated average cost is $27 per worker per year

3.  The benefit will replace up to 55% of wages, up to a maximum of $728 per week in 2004. The maximum benefit will increase automatically each year in accordance with increases in the state's average weekly wage.

4.  Employers can require a worker to use a maximum of two weeks of vacation time first before receiving paid family leave. One week will be used to cover the waiting period

5.  Businesses with fewer than 50 employees are not required to hold a job for a worker who goes on paid family leave. Collective bargaining agreements may offer different protections for these workers.

6.  New mothers eligible for pregnancy-related SDI will also be eligible for paid family leave

7.  California is the first state in the country to create a comprehensive paid family leave program. Current state and federal law guarantee 12 weeks of unpaid leave for those working for larger employers; this new law guarantees that 6 of those weeks would be paid

b.  Federal regulations

i.  Under the Federal Family and Medical leave Act; an employee may take a leave of absence with or without pay for the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption, or for foster care.

1.  To qualify, the employee must have worked for 12 months and at least 1250 hours preceding the FMLA leave.

C.  Statistics

i. Since 1993, over 35 million covered and eligible workers benefited from taking leave for family and medical reasons.

ii. More than four in five employees surveyed believed that every worker should have up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a year for family and medical problems.

iii. Almost 41 million Americans are not covered by the FMLA because they work for private employers not covered under the law -- this amounts to more than 40 percent of the private sector workforce nationwide.

iv. Every industrialized country in the world, except the United States, has some form of paid parental leave with a guaranteed job on return to work.

v. The overwhelming majority of employers said the use of intermittent leave had no impact on productivity or profitability.

vi. 85 percent of employees reported that the taking of leave by co-workers had a positive or neutral impact on them

VI.  Sick Leave

a.  State Regulations

i.  There are no state laws that mandate sick leave pay, according to Nolo.com, a legal information website.

ii.  Sick leave pay is strictly voluntary for employers and they typically offer the benefit to attract employees.

b.  Federal regulations

i.  Under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), an employee may be entitled by Federal law to take up to 12 weeks of sick leave for your own or family member’s illness, without losing your job or group health benefits.

1.  The Act does not require your employer to issue sick leave pay.

2.  Your state might have a similar law that changes the Federal Act.

c.  Statistics

  1. 58 percent cash-out sick leave at retirement

ii. 45 percent offer cash/pay for unused sick leave

iii. 33 percent offer sick leave sharing/leave banks

iv. 11 percent convert sick leave to vacation time

v. Nine percent convert sick leave to insurance at retirement

vi.  Three percent convert sick leave to disability insurance

vii.  Two percent convert sick leave to wellness expenses

ii.  56 percent of full-time employees in medium and large private establishmentsa were eligible to participate in paid sick leave. ( according to Facts from EBRI)

iii.  The average number of annual paid sick leave days ranged from 11.2 days after one year of service to 21.1 days after 25 years of service. ( according to Facts from EBRI)

  1. Contorversial Issues
  2. business and employer groups fear such laws (six weeks family sick leave) will lead to costly, bureaucratic headaches for them.
  3. California's plan has been controversial with business groups, even though the leave will be paid for exclusively through employee contributions, not with employer funds. Starting January 1, the state will deduct an additional 0.08 percent from the first $68,829 a year that a worker earns (wages above that amount aren't taxed for California's State Disability Insurance, known as SDI). So the maximum individual contribution for the program would be $55.06 for next year”
  4. People calling in sick, playing “hookie

VII.  Break Time

a.  State regulation

i.  State Laws usually mandate when employers must give you “rest periods” or breaks.

ii.  How much and when depends mostly on the discretion of the employer, but there is some legal protection.

1.  Union labors sometimes have specific contracts that mandate time for breaks.

b.  Federal regulations

i.  There are no federal law that gives you meal or rest breaks.

c.  Preventatve Measures

i.  Break time helps you prevent weariness

1.  known as Occupational Overuse Syndrome or Repetitive Strain Injuries

2.  Weariness arises as a result of long continuous work.

3.  It may be prevented if you make a break and do weakening exercises.

a.  Weakening will be effective if you listen to classical music during the break.

  1. Break time tells you when you should make a break it will reproduce weakening music during the break time.
  2. Controversial issues
  3. Miss use of time, to long of a break
  4. Employees take to many breaks

iii.  Taking a break in a manner and location that disturbs fellow employees who may not be taking a break at that time.

VIII.  Consolidated Paid Time Off or Paid Time Off Bank

a.  New innovative benefit

b.  Not Required by any State or Federal laws

c.  Flexibility and greater control over managing paid time off

d.  Lumps sick leave, vacation days, floating and personal holidays altogether in one bank to be taken when given or accrued

i.  In case of termination balance of paid time off days would need to be paid out

e.  http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1998/07/06/focus6.html

f.  Statistics

i.  28 % of 822 surveyed companies have a PTO bank system.

ii.  23% of Companies without PTO banks indicated they are considering implementing one.

http://www.acaonline.org/research/generic/html/pto_0702.html

IX.  Conclusion: Most employees believe that paid time off generally entails only vacations, sick time and holidays. In this report Paid Time off has been explained in full detail of what is considered paid time off and what is required by state and federal laws and what employers just give as an added benefit.