How Much PTO Should You Offer Employees?

Paid time off is a necessary offering for full-time private employers. You want to ensure you’re offering competitive benefits and preventing burnout, but you also don’t want to harm your bottom line or put stress on other team members by offering too much PTO. 

So, the question lingers: How much PTO should I offer my employees?

Industry Matters

The answer is more complex than just hitting a national average. While 76 percent of all private-sector workers receive paid vacation days, the amount offered tends to vary drastically among industries.

Of the 29 private industries surveyed by Zippia in 2021, Media has the greatest average PTO offering, at 15 days. It’s followed by Manufacturing, Agriculture, Finance, and Internet companies—all of which average 14 days.

Automotive, advertising, mining, and marketing bring up the tail end of the curve, averaging less than six paid days off each year.

Reward Loyalty

Across the board, there’s a significant correlation between years spent with a company and paid time off. Competitive companies use PTO as an incentive for employees to stay.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that only 9 percent of workers with 1 year of service received 20 or more PTO days, compared to 57 percent who have put in 20 years or more with a company.

Why is that? Employee turnover can be expensive and time-consuming, and rewarding employees with a few more days off each year can end up saving your company money in the long run.

Factor in Company Size

The number of employees in an organization matters as well when it comes to PTO. Smaller private companies tend to offer less PTO than larger ones.

In fact, access to paid vacation for private organizations under 50 people is just 71 percent, compared to 92 percent for private organizations of over 500.

Why is this? At larger companies, it’s usually easier to delegate tasks among other team members simply because there are more of them. For organizations under 25, by contrast, there may only be one accountant, IT person, or HR representative to handle specialized tasks.

While the average PTO for all private industry workers is technically 10 days, companies looking to provide competitive offerings need to look beyond this headline number. Consider your industry, establish a PTO loyalty system, and factor in company size and bandwidth before writing up job offers.

Once you’ve established your PTO plan, Future Systems, Inc. can help your organization or business keep track of balances with our robust online timekeeping and scheduling solutions. Reach out to request a quote.