Confused about PTO

[freckles23]

So I need some clarification about PTO. I work full time at a hospital and get 29 days of PTO a year, 8.92 hrs every two wks accrued (vacation, sick days, however u want to use it). I want to know what happens when the end of the year approaches like from oct-dec? if you are earning pto every two wks that means by the end of the year everyone would want to take pto because the new year would begin and you would possibly lose those hours?? In my manual it basically says "PTO must be used in a calendar year in which it was given and no rollover will be accepted". So do PTO hours roll over to the next new year, say for hrs accrued in Nov 2015, do you still have access to those hours til Nov 2016? or u have to cash out? also if you are earning 8.92 hours of pto every two wks, that means in 4 wks u get 17ish hours, so that covers for the 13 hour shifts I do at the hospital, correct? because If i did PTO with only 8.92 hrs in my bank, it wouldnt even pay me for a normal shift of work, correct?

lastly, I put in for 2 wks vacation time in august, just wondering do i get paid for the 3 days/wk i am technically supposed to work or if i have enough pto i can get paid for the 13 days I am gone or is that not possible cuz it would land into overtime hours?

please help! really confused! thxs alot!

[crazin01]

Does your facility allow you to 'cash out' some PTO at end of the year? I used to do that often so I would not lose the PTO hours that are 'expiring'. I've also seen facilities cap the number of PTO hours you can carry over to new year.

[freckles23]

they do have cash out I believe twice a year but it has to be a min/max of certain amount of hours. and im not sure about the cap

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

I would consult with someone in your HR department regarding your questions.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Only your facility can answer your questions. PTO policies differ greatly from facility to facility.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I've never seen somewhere allow someone to use more PTO hours in a week than the hours they work. That's essentially cashing out. If you are taking 2 weeks of vacation and you work 36 hrs/week, you take 72 hours of PTO. If the handbook says that the hours must be used in the calendar year they were given it means just that, in the CALENDAR year, from Jan-Dec.

[freckles23]

that kind of sucks then because you will never be able to end up using the PTO towards the end of the year because thats when holidays are so basically its free money im guessing if you cant use the pto to roll over

[springchick1, ADN, RN]

Ours rolls over. We can keep up to 300 hours in our bank at a time.

[emmy27]

It sounds like you basically have to cash out your end-of-year PTO, which sort of sucks. Most places I've worked have let you roll over at least a certain amount. Otherwise anyone wishing to travel or getting sick in the first part of the year is out of luck. Also reduces the effectiveness of PTO accrual as a loyalty incentive (needing a lot of PTO for a planned trip was a major factor in staying at at least one job past when I would otherwise have left).

You have to ask HR to be sure, though. Every facility is different and we can't answer this for you.

[canigraduate]

Call your HR rep and ask them.

[klone, MSN, RN]

What if someone wants to take a vacation in January? They're basically screwed. I've never heard of a facility that didn't allow you to roll over ANY PTO. One of my husband's employers, you could roll over 40 hours, and they'd cash you out anything else at the end of the year.

Where I work, you can roll over 180 hours.

[Libby1987]

Are you sure they don't mean that your accrual stops at 29 days whether you use it or not, or that you cannot take more than 29 days in a calendar year?

Maybe you can cash out 2015 PTO and use it to replace your wages during your January vacation? (Which doesn't sound right but might be a bandaid solution)