Idea #53 – Vacation Accrual
Report Status: Fully Reviewed
Researched by: Norma Massarotti
Original Idea as Submitted
Eliminate vacation buyback policy; limit number of days' rollover and implement use-it-or-lose-it policy
Other ideas included in this report
- None
Weighted Final Score: 44 (Financial Impact: 4, Operational Impact: 2, Time Scale: 2, Ease of Implementation: 1)
Background Information
Most Town employees fall under the vacation policy below:
Taking vacation is important to an employee’s wellness and also helps to increase productivity.
Employers who provide paid vacation to their employees must treat those payments like any other wages. Upon separation from employment, employees must be compensated by their employers for vacation time earned. An employer may cap the amount of vacation time that an employee may accrue or earn. The Town of Belmont’s maximum cap is two times the annual vacation accrual amount.
Many organizations limit vacation carry-over to few days and have a “use or lose it” policy in place to limit their financial liability as it is a substantial and often non-forecasted payout.
Many organizations also have a standard vacation policy that is not different for management vs. non-management.
Recommendations and Next Steps
The Select Board, Human Resources, and the Town Administrator should obtain and review the average payout for vacation accruals that was paid annually to employees whose service ended for use in determining how to proceed.
Any recommendations to changes in the Town’s vacation policies should not be made in insolation of any changes being made to other compensation practices. These changes for union employees would need to be included in the next contract negotiations.