leave

December 27, 2022December 27, 2022

Unlimited Vacation Time: How Do PTO Policies Work in Practice?

The disparities are profound: A 2021 report from the Economic Policy Institute showed that two-thirds of workers in low-wage jobs didn’t have access to paid sick days even during the pandemic; a 2022 report from the Center for American Progress detailed that 37% of Black women who need leave don’t take it, and many have to go on leave without pay.

Huckelbridge outlines various kinds of paid leave, including paid time off, bereavement, vacation, and sick leave; but what Paid Leave for All generally means, she says, is paid time off to care for yourself, a new child, or a loved one dealing with a serious health condition. This underscores that no one should be haggling for paid time off amid the many moving pieces and needs that make up a life.

How do you know what kinds of leave you have?

Sturman says there are questions to consider about the leave policies at your job: “What sort of notice or permission do you need for taking vacation or sick days? Who do you need to ask? Who needs to approve it? How far in advance do you need to ask for vacation time?” This should be spelled out in an employee handbook, Sturman adds.

And especially for employees new to the workforce, paying attention to leave details is crucial, such as differences between sick leave, vacation, and holidays, and how leave fits into a larger benefits package. “In short, don’t just assume that the company is going to be generous and help you out when you are sick or need a break,” Sturman says. With many hourly jobs, there is no paid time off, he says. “When faced with costs for rent, food, student loans, and so forth, many people simply can’t afford to take what might

Experts share tips on how to protect your home while on vacation

December 23, 2022

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — With millions of people traveling for the holidays, many will not be back until the new year. 8 News Now has shared tips from experts to prepare your house and make sure you are not the next target for thieves.

Mary Rendina with Camco, a homeowners association management company, said there are several ways to protect your home while you are gone.

“Talk to your neighbors, let them know you are going to be out of town,” Rendina said.

She also said to secure all doors and windows and to have sensor lights that can motion detect to throw potential burglars off.

“If you can, leave a car in the driveway, put some light on inside on a timer that helps as well,” Rendina said.

However, private investigator, Scot Martin, said to make sure not to leave any valuables in the car either.

“Make sure you put your garage door openers in your house, secure your house. So if somebody does get into your car they don’t have access to your house,” Martin said.

If you are not going on vacation, make sure to cut up all holiday box packaging and put them inside your trash bin so no one knows what you got for the holidays.

Experts also remind you to stop your mail until you get back from vacation. During this time of year, there could be checks, gift cards, and sometimes cash that could easily be taken for mailboxes.

November 15, 2022November 15, 2022

California mandates bereavement leave – The San Diego Union-Tribune

Starting Jan. 1, California employers with five or more employees will have to offer all employees with at least 30 days on the job at least five days of unpaid, job-protected leave to grieve the death of a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law.

This new category of leave is “separate and distinct from,” that is, in addition to, the 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave employers must offer employees to care for themselves or family members (and, effective Jan. 1, one additional designated person) under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employers in the private sector that offer bereavement leave typically provide “three to five days for full-time employees following the loss of an immediate family member, and one day following the loss of an extended family member or close friend.”

Employees need not take their bereavement leave under the new law on consecutive days. According to a legislative analyst’s report, that provision reflects “the fact that wrapping up the affairs of a family member cannot necessarily be done in a neat and orderly schedule.” Nonetheless, the law requires the employee to complete the leave within three months of the date of the death of the family member.

The new law does not require that this additional leave time be paid, “except that an employee may use vacation, personal leave, accrued and available sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available to the employee” for this purpose.

Upon the employer’s request, an employee must provide documentation of the death of the family member within 30 days of the first day of the leave. That documentation “includes, but is not limited to, a death certificate, a published obituary, a written verification of death, burial,

November 13, 2022November 13, 2022

Corrections officers allegedly abused paid sick leave to vacation, party: report

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Three city corrections officers allegedly faked illnesses and took sick leave for over a year while collecting full salary, traveling and partying, prosecutors said.

Steven Cange, 49; Eduardo Trinidad, 42, and Monica Coaxum, 36, were arrested Thursday morning and are expected to appear in federal court.

Cange was put on sick leave in March 2021, claiming he suffered from debilitating side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, prosecutors allege. Cange had a salary of over $160,000.

In addition, Cange had sent in more than 100 fake documents from physical therapy and other doctors, the New York Post reported. A criminal complaint alleges that Cange spent the free time pursuing his interest in comic books.

Coaxum was out on leave from March 2021 to May 2022 stemming from fake injuries, according to complaint obtained by the Post. She was making $80,000 annually and officials allegedly caught her outside of her house parties.

Coaxum admitted to investigators she’d forged 50 fake medical documents justifying her injury leave, The New York Post reported.

Trinidad, Coaxum’s fiance, also faked injuries to stay out of work between June 2021 and November 2022. He allegedly showed up to medical appointments “wearing some combination of a sling, cane, and/or boot,” according to the complaint.

The couple was also caught traveling to the Dominican Republic, Florida and West Virginia.

“As alleged, in the midst of an ongoing staffing crisis at Rikers Island, the defendants defrauded New Yorkers by fraudulently obtaining their full salaries while taking over a year of sick leave,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

City corrections officers have unlimited sick time as part of their contract.

Union president Benny Boscio condemned the alleged actions.

These are obviously extremely serious allegations and, if true, do not represent the 99% of

October 29, 2022October 29, 2022

Is long service leave the key to retention?

By KAREN MICHAEL
Special correspondent

Employee retention is a key concern for many employers. Organizations continue to bemoan the high turnover rate of employees and the “Great Resignation” where dangling fruits of more money, added benefits and promises of work-life balance lure away trained employees to what seems to them like greener pastures.

Turnover and lack of trained staff has led to insecurity for business priorities and initiatives and calls into question an organization’s ability to plan for current sustainability and future growth.

Years ago, employees remained loyal with the promise of a pension at the end of a decades-long commitment. These are largely gone or diminishing.

A possible solution — Long Service Leave.

While traveling in Australia recently, I met a woman who was on an extended Long Service Leave from her employer — a children’s hospital where she is a teacher. After losing her 18-month-old granddaughter to cancer in the last year, this extended fully paid time off was the break she needed after working for the hospital for over two decades.

In Australia, employees working for the same employer for 10 years earn Long Service Leave, the amount of which can vary from six weeks to longer. This leave is in addition to the customary sick leave, vacation, etc. It’s a bonus of sorts for the employee’s loyalty.

What is unique about this leave is that it is fully paid and taken during a time in a person’s career and life that would bring an important refresh. Rarely do Americans have the opportunity to take an extended paid leave of absence. Taking a long-term sick leave or maternity/paternity leave is certainly no vacation, but that’s about the only time Americans are paid when they are away from work for an extended period

McMaster and sponsors celebrate law giving state employees up to 6 weeks paid parental leave | Palmetto Politics

August 29, 2022

COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster celebrated a new law providing state employees up to six weeks of paid parental leave while its sponsors promised to push for more next year.

“This is a great step forward,” McMaster said Aug. 25 at the Statehouse, surrounded by advocates who helped get the legislation to his desk.

“Having strong families, of course, is key to our success in the future,” he added. “Mommas and daddies need to be with their babies as much as they can.”

The event marked a ceremonial signing of a bill he actually set into law in May.

Effective Oct. 1, it provides six weeks of paid leave to state employees who give birth or become parents by adopting a child under 18. The spouse who doesn’t give birth or — in the case of adoption, the parent who’s not the primary care provider — can take two weeks off with pay. Parents who foster a child in state custody can also take two weeks paid leave.

Florence 1 becomes first SC school district to offer paid parental leave

Parents can still take up to 12 weeks off, as allowed under a 1993 federal law, but the rest of the time would be unpaid. Currently, employees must use up their accrued vacation and sick days before taking unpaid leave. The new law doesn’t require using those days.

As initially passed overwhelmingly by the S.C. House of Representatives last year, the legislation guaranteed 12 weeks of paid leave to each parent. But the Senate cut the maximum weeks in half and differentiated between mother and father, biological and foster children.

Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Columbia, said the compromise was necessary to get a vote in the Senate, which passed the amended bill unanimously in March. For reluctant senators, he said, it was a matter of money.

Columbia moving forward with $21.5M Finlay Park revitalization

State fiscal experts estimated the

August 28, 2022August 28, 2022

South Carolina state employees will soon be entitled to 6 weeks of paid parental leave

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Starting in October, state employees in South Carolina are entitled to six weeks of parental leave after giving birth or adopting children.

Surrounded by Republican and Democratic lawmakers who worked together to pass the bill, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster held a signing ceremony Thursday for the law he put his signature to back in May.

The law provides the six weeks of leave at full salary for the primary parent or caretaker of a baby and two weeks for the other parent for both natural births and adoptions. It also provides two weeks paid leave for foster parents who take in a new child.

“Mamas and daddies need to be with their babies as much as they can,” McMaster said.

State agencies are being told about the leave and the rules this week, said Karen Wingo, state human resources director at the Department of Administration.

SOUTH CAROLINA SUPREME COURT TEMPORARILY BLOCKS ABORTION LAW AS NEAR-TOTAL BAN MOVES FORWARD IN STATE HOUSE

The new law has a special place in her heart because Wingo’s children, now 3 and 5, were born while she worked for the state and she said she did “everything from kissed boo boos and wiped runny noses, dried tears, given snacks, attempted to entertain children” while working.

“One time my 2-year-old decided it was a good time to yell into the phone while I was briefing the governor,” Wingo said. “I know how hard it can be to be a working parent.”

A new law in South Carolina will entitle parents to six weeks of paid time off following the birth or adoption of a child. This law will come into effect at the beginning of October.

The leave bill is not just good for families, but also

August 27, 2022August 27, 2022

Haleon is giving workers 26 weeks of paid parental leave

Anyone who has experienced it firsthand knows that welcoming a new child to your family doesn’t just take a few weeks of vacation time — and an increasing number of employers are coming to the same conclusion.

Of the 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. is the only nation not to have a form of paid parental leave for its citizens. Estonia breaks the record at 86 weeks for new parents, while Ireland has as little as seven weeks — but a policy is still in place. Notably, UNICEF advocates for at least 24 weeks of paid leave, or six months. But Haleon, the largest global healthcare consumer goods company in the world, is taking it a step further.

Formerly GSK Consumer Health, earlier this year Haleon parted with GSK, a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. On its first day as an independent company, Haleon implemented a 26-week paid parental leave policy for all parents, regardless of gender or sexuality, and regardless of whether they are welcoming a child through birth, surrogacy or adoption.

Read more: Should you require your working dads to take paternity leave? Maven’s SVP of people says yes

“We’re a healthcare company, and as a result, we’re deeply concerned about people’s health and wellbeing,” says Matthew Culhane, vice president of HR in North America at Haleon. “We’re looking for opportunities to support our employees and strengthen our culture and purpose — to deliver everyday health with humanity.”

Culhane underlines that Haleon’s parental policy is built on inclusivity and an understanding that growing one’s family is one of the most important moments in people’s lives. Fortunately, leadership at every level of the organization agreed, minimizing the number of roadblocks this policy encountered, explains Culhane.

“This feels like a disproportionately

August 8, 2022August 8, 2022

10 ways to spend your leave or vacation

Everyone desires and anticipates an opportunity to go on leave or vacation in order to get away from the stress associated with daily life.

The daily routine we observe can sometimes get exhausting and all we want to do is to get away into a place of solitude and rest in order to get refreshed for the next phase of our lives.

There are certain things that if done during your vacation or leave, such moments will forever remain memorable, worthwhile and fun such that you may just feel like not resuming back to work or coming back home.

Discussed in this article are 10 things to do when you’re on leave or vacation in order to make such a moment memorable and worthwhile

1. Rest well

The stress most people go through on a daily basis can really be exhausting. From preparation for work to some crazy deadlines that have to be met at work not to talk of family life for those who are married. All these activities combined get one worn out most times, thus, a vacation or leave is definitely the best time to get adequate rest.

During your vacation or leave, the best you can do for yourself and your body system especially is to rest well. This will help replenish your body and brain and make it fit for the task ahead.

2. Spend quality time with your family

Most times our work debars us from spending quality time with our families. There are some individuals who only have time for their families on weekends while some don’t even have any time to spare because of the demands of their work. For instance, some people working in Lagos leave home as early as 4 am and come back till late at night. If such