Paid time off (PTO)

Paid time off (also just “PTO“) is the term given to compensated (paid) time away from work, as agreed by an employer and which is usually stipulated in an employee’s contract.

The rules around taking paid time off vary from company to company, but common examples of paid time off are:

• Annual leave (aka “holiday”)
• Sickness*
• Public holidays/bank holidays*
• Jury duty
• Bereavement

*if stipulated in their employment contract.

Employees are generally given either a fixed leave allowance for a year, or accrue their holidays over time.

Rather than manually recording employee’s PTO, many modern businesses make use of HR and people management software, which enables employees to request time off and managers to approve and log it via the selfsame app.