paid leave

paid time off

Allows employees to take paid time off to care for a long-term medical issue for themselves, their children, or a loved one or to address needs during a long-term absence from work, such as a military deployment.

benefit to employers

Reduces employee absenteeism
Reduces health care costs
Increases loyalty
Increases productivity
Does not impact profits Increases retention, reducing turnover costs
Provides healthier work environment Workers recover from disability, illness, or injury more quickly

benefit to families

Encourages use of preventative health care
Workers recover from disability, illness, or injury more quickly

< back to employer tool kit

Case Study

case study: Mortenson

PTO policies keep
construction company
competitive and incent longevity

In the past three of her 11 years with Mortenson, Krisha Ward has focused on helping team members with everything from relocation packages and promotions to salary changes and leaves of absences. In a competitive industry, Ward sees the company’s paid time off (PTO) policy as a critical recruitment and retention tool.

“It’s valuable to have our team members take time away and have time to take care of their family needs,” said Ward. “We benchmark the benefits we offer across the industry, and we find the overall response to our PTO policies is positive. They help us retain employees, as the longer people work here, the more benefits they gain so they stay and grow within the organization.”

The PTO allocation across different types of employees* (non-craft salaried/corporate and non-union craft) is based on years of service. For example, non-craft salary staff receive 19 days each year for the first three years, while those who have been at Mortenson 19-25 years secure 34 days each year. Non-craft employees can save up to 50% of their annual PTO accrual in a sabbatical bank, and then take up to 40 days at a time. The sabbatical time can be used once every five years for any purpose (vacation, new parents/grandparents, home renovation, etc.). Mortenson has additional paid time off for jury duty or bereavement and offers 12 weeks of maternity leave for birthing mothers, which includes four weeks of parental leave that can be used for mothers, fathers, partners and adopting/foster parents.

Orchestrating leave for new parents can be tricky, so the Mortenson benefits team helps employees understand their options. “Their world is about to be changed forever,” said Joeyln Osmanski, associate HR specialist. “So we like to guide them through the process through Cigna, our benefits administrator. We want to alleviate any worry about what they need to do. Then, we work closely with them when they return to work. They always have a point person to help, which our colleagues appreciate.”

*Union employees’ benefits are negotiated separately.

Location: Minneapolis, Minn.