Kansas City, Kan.—July 26, 2011 —During the recession, having a well developed time-off program was essential for companies looking for a way to compensate employees, without stretching already thin budgets. Now, as companies push towards recovery, time-off programs are one of the cornerstones of highly competitive compensation programs attracting the best talent. The 2011 Compensation Data Utilities survey results found employers offer exempt employees with one full year of service an average of 9.9 vacation days, while non-exempt employees receive 9.6 days.
Exempt employees with five years of service earn 13.3 days of vacation, compared to those with ten years of service, 16.3 days. Employees with 15 years of service receive 19.8 vacation days. In addition, both exempt and non-exempt employees are granted an average of 3 personal days and 10 sick days each year. The average waiting period for employees to receive time-off benefits after the start of employment is 119.7 days.
“Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is more important to workers today than ever before,” said Amy Kaminski, director of marketing for Compdata Surveys, the nation’s leading pay and benefits survey data provider. “By developing a comprehensive time-off program, employers are helping their employees achieve this balance, and are often rewarded with increased productivity in return.”
Formal paid time-off (PTO) programs are gaining prevalence, as the survey results found 21.4 percent of utilities companies now offer a PTO program to employees. PTO programs group together all paid absences, including vacation, sick and personal days. Exempt employees with at least one year of service earn an average 14 days of PTO per year. Those with five years of service receive 20.4 days, while those with ten years of service average 23.7 days.
More than 96 percent of survey respondents allow employees to carry over unused PTO, with all placing a limit on the number of days that can be carried over. Both exempt and non-exempt employees may carry over an average of 25.2 days.
About the Survey
Compensation Data 2011 Utilities surveyed nearly 100 industry-specific job titles and 350 benchmark titles ranging from entry-level to top executives. Data was collected from nearly 130 utility employers reporting on 1,475 locations across the country. The results provide a comprehensive summary of pay data, benefit information and pay practices with an effective date of February 1, 2011.
Compdata Surveys is the nation’s leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. Thousands of U.S. organizations provide data each year ensuring the reliability of our results. Compdata Surveys has been providing comprehensive data at affordable prices to organizations from coast to coast since 1988. For further information about their compensation and benefit surveys, contact Michelle Willis at (800) 300-9570.