8. PTO payouts upon termination

This is a post in the continuing series about 10 things to know when creating a PTO policy.

In the U.S., depending on what state your employees are located in (including your staff working remotely), it may be left to your discretion as to whether or not you decide to pay out PTO balances upon termination of employment.

In other circumstances though, this is not the case. In fact as we’ve briefly mentioned before, some states like California require you to pay out PTO balances when an employee leaves.

We‘re not going to get too prescriptive here about what you’re required to in the event an employee leaves, merely because there are so many different jurisdictions that have their own constantly changing rules.

The first thing you should do is check with your state government‘s web site and educate yourself about the rules that apply to you and your staff.

At the end of the day, your policy for payout upon termination should be compliant for all states where your employees are located, and to avoid confusion the policy should be consistent for all staff across your entire company.