paid time off

Paid time off or personal time off (PTO) is a policy in some employee handbooks that provides a bank of hours in which the employer pools sick days, vacation days, and personal days that allows employees to use as the need or desire arises. This policy pertains mainly to the United States, where there are no federal legal requirements for a minimum number of paid vacation days (see also the list of statutory minimum employment leave by country). Instead, U.S. companies determine the amount of paid time off that will be allotted to employees, while keeping in mind the payoff in recruiting and retaining employees. In the United States, paid vacation is typically two weeks or less per year for the first few years of employment in addition to roughly 10 paid federal holidays.