Guide to Providing Paid Time Off

Paid time off (PTO) — including medical and sick leave — will ensure that your employee is rested and healthy and ready to do their job well. 

Here are some guiding principles around offering paid time off:

• For full-time employees, provide at least 5 paid sick days per year; and for part-time employees, 1 hour for every 30 hours worked.
• For full-time employees, provide at least 2 weeks of paid vacation per year; and for part-time employees, 1 hour for every 20 hours worked.
• Any unused vacation should be paid out as additional pay when the agreement comes up for an annual review or when the worker leaves the job- whichever the employee and employer agree to.
• Provide the standard 8 paid government holidays or agreed upon holidays of the employee’s choice. If an employee agrees to work on any of these holidays, they should be compensated one-and-a-half times their usual hourly rate.
• Try to provide at least 6 weeks of paid family or medical leave, with guaranteed employment upon return.

Visit your city/state labor department website for additional laws and standards that apply specifically to your area.

For detailed advice about providing Paid Time Off for a nanny visit our PTO guide for nannies resource.