Employers are not required under federal or Florida law to offer paid time off, including sick time and vacation, to their employees. Employers typically offer PTO as a benefit to attract and retain employees, and PTO is often a subject of collective bargaining agreements.
When an employer offers some form of PTO, employers should consider whether the PTO is earned all at once at the start of some predetermined period such as the calendar year or the employee’s anniversary, or whether the PTO is accrued per pay period or on another intermittent basis. Further, employers should consider whether some or all of the PTO will be paid out upon the employee’s separation from employment and, if so, under what conditions, and include this information in the Employee Handbook.
