Different shades of PTO: How both blue and white collar employees fight for their accrued benefits

(Photo: Shutterstock)

As previous work norms and ideas about productivity begin to fade, there’s a tectonic shift taking place in the workforce today that’s moving faster than employers can keep up with. In the last two years, we have seen employees across every walk of life and occupation start to look for positions that offer greater flexibility and promote mental health and wellness. This phenomenon has led to businesses becoming much more competitive in how they offer benefits programs and compensation packages to prospective employees.  

But one area of benefits that still needs to be re-examined altogether is paid time off (PTO). As it is currently constructed, PTO has proven to be inefficient for employees and a financial liability for businesses, creating a massive market failure. As much as it would seem like everyone wants to go on vacation, statistics show that most of us aren’t using up nearly as much of our hard-earned time off as we should be. In fact, over half of employees leave close to 800 million unused days on the books each year and forfeit up to $65 billion in benefits.