A new white paper published Thursday by The Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project proposes amending the Fair Labor Standards Act to allow U.S. workers to earn paid time off to be used for any purpose, including vacation, caregiving and health and medical needs.

Under the proposal, written by Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, FLSA PTO would accrue at a rate of one hour per 50 hours worked in the first two years after the policy’s enactment, capped at 40 hours per year. After this two-year period, the rate of accrual would increase to one hour per 25 hours worked and the cap would increase to 80 hours per year.

Trendline

The top employee benefits companies are focusing on

As employers prioritize retention, benefits remain a crucial piece of business’ employee value propositions.

Nontipped workers would be paid their full wages while tipped workers would be paid either their normal wage or the full applicable minimum wage including the tip credit, whichever is higher. Employers would be required to allow workers to use their earned PTO after they have accumulated at least four hours of leave, according to the proposal. That translates to roughly 200 hours of work in the first two years of the guaranteed PTO program.

This framework would allow all employees — whether part time, full time or seasonal — to participate, Stevenson wrote. Employees would be required to give their employers a minimum two weeks of notice...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiAFBVV95cUxPS1g5V011ZnFDV2dKOGprYTU0...