Five Easy Steps to Develop a Paid Time Off Program on Your Farm
The daily hustle and bustle of running a farm can be down-right exhausting at times. The long hours put in each day can take a toll on one’s mental health. Taking time to rest and recharge off the farm can benefit not only you, but your farm employees as well.
Research shows rested employees are more productive employees. Allowing your farm employees to take vacation time can reduce stress, help prevent burnout and promote work-life balance by allowing them more time to be spend with family, significant others and close friends.
Fewer than 20% of farm workers are offered paid vacation time, according to an Iowa State University study. Yet offering them paid vacation is simple and effective, says Ann Johanns, an Iowa State Extension program specialist.
“Offering employees paid time off can really boost not only morale, but overall productivity too,” Johanns says. “This is especially true in the winter when daily tasks may slowdown.”
Five Easy Steps
If you are looking to incorporate a Paid Time Off (PTO) program on your farm, consider these steps:
- Require Approval - As an employer, you must carefully consider several things before implementing a PTO policy. Without structure, a PTO policy can quickly start to fall apart. According to Business News Daily, requiring managerial approval for PTO is helpful to ensure you can mitigate your employee coverage.
- Determine a PTO policy for different employee types - Johanns suggest farmers identify which employees in your operation will qualify for time off. For example, full-time employees or employees who have been employed by the farm for a number of years may qualify for more PTO than part-time or newer employees.
- Decide how much time to provide each year – Each farm has different needs and may be able to offer more time off than others. Take stock of the number of employees on the farm and start to analyze how much PTO you can provide. Remember, the more time you give off, the more appealing your company is to potential new hires. However, be careful not to offer so much time off that it impacts overall productivity.
- Decide if employees can accrue time – Once you have decided how much PTO to provide, the next step is to decide if PTO will be provided in one lump sum or accrued. The accrual approach means employees earn their PTO over time based on how much they work, according to Business News Daily. For example, an employee may accrue four hours of PTO each pay period, so they would earn one full day off every four weeks.
- Decide if employees can roll overtime at the end of the year – As the calendar flips to a new year, you may notice some employees have not used all of their PTO. When developing a PTO policy, be sure to determine if employees can roll over their PTO days into the next year.
For example, you may choose to allow employees to roll over a certain number of PTO days into the next year. However, to ensure employees don’t build up too much time, many employers cap how many days can roll over each year. The other option is to implement a “use it or lose it” policy—where employees have to use all of their allotted PTO each year.
With labor shortages on the rise, more employees are looking for employers who offer valuable benefit packages. To stay competitive in the labor market, consider adding an attractive PTO policy to your farm business to help keep you and employees happy.
