Time Off FAQ

St. Olaf College’s new PTO program will work in coordination with other college and state-provided leave options to support employees through a variety of life circumstances. The college is moving from self-insuring all sick and short-term disability coverage to utilizing the new required state programs and adding an integrated set of insurance programs to support employee needs for leaves. 

• Paid Time Off (PTO) for all eligible staff positions: PTO combines vacation and sick leave into a single all-purpose bank of paid hours that can be used for any time off, including:
  • Vacation or personal time
  • Illness or injury (yours or a family member’s)
  • Medical or dental appointments
  • Family care responsibilities
  • Personal or mental health days
  • Attend to other personal or family matters that require attention during working hours
  • Any ESST outlined reason for absence
    

With PTO you choose when and how to use your time, without having to distinguish between vacation, sick leave, personal days, or time off for any other reason. According to a 2023 survey conducted by the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), 70 percent of organizations report use of PTO all-purpose time off rather than policies that distinguish between paid vacation and sick leave. 

PTO will accrue automatically each pay period. Full-time employees will accrue 28 days per year. Part-time employees who have an FTE of 0.50 or more can calculate their annual PTO by multiplying their FTE by 28.

• Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST): Beginning in 2024, this state program enables employees to accrue one hour for every 30 hours worked. For more information on what ESST can be used for, please see this guide from the State of Minnesota. For eligible staff positions, this is provided through the college’s PTO program. The ESST will still be a separate program for eligible faculty and students. 
• Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML): Beginning in 2026, this state program provides paid leave for serious health conditions, bonding with a new child, or caring for an ill family member. Time taken through this program does not draw down PTO time. The college has contracted with New York Life to manage this program, and they have provided more details about PFML here.
• Short-Term Disability (STD): St. Olaf has contracted with New York Life to provide STD for up to three months. The plan will continue to provide coverage for qualifying medical absences by the employee, typically following the first five days of leave and will be managed to supplement PFML coverage.
• Long Term Disability (LTD): The college has contracted with New York Life to begin Long Term Disability coverage for eligible employees after the first three months of leave and the conclusion of STD benefits.
• Parental Leave: Paid Family Medical Leave will provide for a portion of your salary for eligible employees following the birth or adoption of a child for up to 12 weeks. The college will pay the remainder of your salary for the 6 weeks of the college’s parental leave benefit, in addition to the six weeks of disability for the birth mother. 
• Bereavement Leave: Employees will continue to have bereavement leave time available as is outlined in the current handbook without utilizing PTO.
• Campus Holidays and Office Closure Days: Eligible employees will continue to have 11 holidays in addition to the paid office closure days between Christmas and New Years Day. 
• Other Approved Leaves: Additional leave options (such as military or jury duty leave) remain available under college policy. Going forward, the Personal Choice Day will be included in the PTO bank.

More details on when and how each of these programs can be used will be available in the Benefits Change Guide that will be sent to the entire campus community.

 

Unless specified elsewhere, all full-time employees are eligible. A full-time employee is 1.0 FTE.

All employees with less than 1.0 FTE but at or above 0.5 FTE are eligible, with benefits prorated based on their FTE (with the exception of PFML), which are available to all employees.

Employees with less than 0.5 FTE will only be eligible for PFML and ESST.

Current Leave Plan	Description		New Leave Plans	Description
Sick Time for Employee or Relatives	ESST/ Salary Continuation 80 hrs per year		Replaced by PTO/ESST	28 days per year; can accrue up to 35 days
Medical Leave and Pay Continuation Including STD (exempt staff)	FMLA/ Salary Continuation 12 Weeks		FMLA, PFML + STD or PTO	12 weeks per incident, up to 20 weeks in a rolling calendar year (PFML and STD). In the event of a routine absence, PTO will be utilized.
Personal Choice Days (all staff)	1 per year		Replaced by PTO	28 days per year; can accrue up to 35 days
Vacation (exempt staff)	22 Days		Replaced by PTO	28 days per year; can accrue up to 35 days
PTO (non-exempt staff)	0-4 Years: 18 Days 5-12 Years: 23 Days 13+ Years: 28 Days		Expanded PTO	28 days per year for all non-exempt staff, regardless of years of service; can accumulate up to 35 days
Birth Parent Parental Leave (all faculty and staff)	6–8 weeks of salary continuation/sick leave followed by parental leave capped at 12-14 weeks paid under paid parental leave policy.		PFML, STD, Paid Parental Leave, and PTO	PFML will provide a portion of paid leave benefit for the entire leave period (both the 6-8 week initial portion and the remaining leave of up to 12 weeks). During the first 6-8 week period, STD will supplement the employee’s paid leave to ensure 100 percent of the employee’s pay for 6-8 weeks. For the remaining leave of up to 12 weeks, PFML will pay a portion of the leave. For the first 6 weeks, Paid Parental Leave will pay the employee’s remaining compensation. After 6 weeks, PTO will cover the portion over PFML.
Paid Parental Leave for non-birth parent (all faculty and staff)	12 weeks of leave, including 6 weeks paid leave under paid parental leave policy. Remainder of leave paid through vacation or PTO.		PFML plus college parental leave	PFML will provide a portion of the parent’s salary for 12 weeks. The college’s Parental Leave benefit will supplement PFML pay up to 100 percent of the employee’s pay for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, PTO will cover the portion of an employee’s pay over PFML.
Married Employees with Parental Leave (all faculty and staff)	Only one parent can use parental leave		Married employees	Both parents will get PFML and Parental Leave
Bereavement Leave (all faculty and staff)			No change

St. Olaf has long had two different paid time off/salary continuation policies for exempt (salaried) and non-exempt (hourly) staff, and there have been inequities in the system between employee groups. The State of Minnesota recently enacted two new laws related to paid time off. These laws were in some ways duplicative of the college’s current programs and in other ways meant the college needed to change its policies. As part of this process, we decided this was the time to create a more consistent and equitable policy paid time off program for all employees.

These new laws require employers to provide paid time off for specific reasons.

• On January 1, 2024, the Employee Sick and Safe Time (ESST) law went into effect.
• On January 1, 2026, the state will launch the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program.
  

These programs apply to all employees, including student workers, and will increase the overall cost and complexity for both staff (about what program to use for what need) and for the college to administer time-off benefits. Moving to a PTO model allows St. Olaf to:

• Remain compliant with state law
• Provide a more equitable and integrated set of programs 
• Ensure sustainable administration of leave for both staff, faculty, and students
• Align St. Olaf’s leave policy with most higher education and other employers

Both exempt (salaried) and non-exempt (hourly) staff will be affected by this new policy.

Non-Exempt Staff (hourly) 

• Already accrue time off under a PTO plan that meets ESST requirements. 
• All non-exempt staff will accrue 28 days regardless of years of service.
• New (0-4 years) will now accrue 28 days vs. 18 days; those who have worked from 5-12 years will now accrue 28 days vs. 23 days. Those who have worked 13+ years will stay at 28 days.

Exempt Staff (salaried)

• Currently accrue both vacation and ESST separately from a sick leave bank that also includes short-term disability, will move to a PTO accrual system that mirrors the one currently used for non-exempt staff. 
• All exempt staff will accrue 28 days regardless of years of service.

Faculty members are not included in the PTO policy because their time off is structured around the academic calendar.  Faculty and student workers still accrue ESST time.

The new PTO policy will take effect on January 1, 2026.

On December 31, 2025, the vacation time of exempt staff and the PTO of non-exempt staff will be converted into PTO hours. Also, exempt employees’ ESST balances will also be added to their PTO balance. This amount will become your beginning PTO balance. No employee will lose the value of accrued time. Exempt staff’s current available Sick Leave (which is currently the college’s self-insured way to provide both sick time and Short Term Disability) is being converted into the new integrated set of PTO, Paid Family Leave, and Short Term Disability).

No. Staff’s combined balance under PTO will reflect the total worth of your existing vacation, PTO and ESST hours.

PTO will accrue automatically each pay period. Full-time exempt employees will accrue as follows (prorated on FTE):

• 28 days per year (224 hours)
• 2.33 days per month (18.67 hours)

Full-time non-exempt employees will accrue as follows (prorated on FTE):

• 28 days per year (224 hours)
• 8.62 hours per pay period

Part-time employees who have an FTE of .50 or more should multiply their FTE by the full-time numbers. For example, someone who has an FTE of 0.83 would accrue time like this:

• 28 * .83 = 23.24 days (224 * .83 = 185.92 hours per year)
• 2.33 * .83 = 1.934 days/month (18.67 * .83 = 15.496 hours/month)

Currently, PTO stops accruing when you meet your accrual maximum. Starting January 1, 2026, PTO will continue to accrue until you have reached 35 days (280 hours). If you are at the maximum and do not use these hours by the end of any pay period, they will carry forward into the following pay period; however, you will no longer accrue time off until you have reduced your PTO balance.

The college is allowing for a maximum of 35 days of accrual because employees may have a year in which they want to save up more time from the previous year for a vacation or be able to leverage more time in a given year for other reasons for personal time off.

Note that starting in 2026, you will not be able to go into a negative balance with your PTO. Once you have exhausted your balance, you will need to accrue before using any additional paid time off. If you are already negative going into the 2026 plan year, the Payroll Office will be manually managing your accruals until you reach a zero balance.

Yes. Like vacation and PTO under the current policies, unused and accrued PTO will be paid out at separation, up to the new allowed maximum of 15 days (120 hours). The maximum of 15 days applies to all employees, regardless of their FTE.

We arrived at 28 days after reviewing several data points:

1. It is currently the maximum amount of PTO available to non-exempt (hourly) staff who have been employed by St. Olaf for 13+ years.
2. We calculated the average amount of sick time recorded per employee since January 1, 2024 (6 days). The old policy of 22 days of vacation + 6 average sick days is equal to the 28 days in the current PTO policy, but we decided to allow the accrual of PTO days to continue up to 35 days to provide employees with more flexibility in any given year.  
3. We reviewed national averages of the amount of PTO that employers offer. According to a 2024 report by the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), the “Average Paid Time Off Granted to Full-Time Employees by Service Time” is:
   1. Under 1 year of service: 12 days PTO 
   2. After 10 years of service: 22 days PTO 
   3. After 20 years of service: 26 days PTO
4. With this new policy, St. Olaf is providing all employees — regardless of years of service — with a number of PTO days that exceeds this average.

Consistent with our current policy:

1. Non-exempt employees (employees eligible for overtime) can use PTO or make up the time in the same work week with approval by their supervisor. 
2. Exempt employees (employees not eligible for overtime) are encouraged to, whenever possible, work with their supervisors to explore flexible options such as working from home or adjusting hours within the work week, rather than using PTO for health appointments and/or caring for family members. Employees need to obtain approval from their supervisor to make these adjustments.
3. Employees should record PTO in a minimum of 15-minute increments, with the standard of half-day and full-day increments for exempt employees.

Employees will continue to request time off through Oracle.

• Planned absences (like vacation) should be requested and approved in advance.
• Unplanned absences (such as illness) should be reported as soon as possible (within the impacted pay period) to your supervisor.
  

Managers are encouraged to approve PTO requests whenever operationally feasible by the end of the impacted pay period.

The new PTO policy meets or exceeds Minnesota’s Employee Sick and Safe Time (ESST) requirements. Additionally, PTO will work in coordination with:

• Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) beginning in 2026
• St. Olaf’s Short Term Disability plan (After using five days of PTO, STD will cover eligible leaves)
• Parental leave and bereavement will still be a separate paid time off benefit

All leaves are subject to eligibility and review by the college’s leave administrator, New York Life, in partnership with Human Resources and the Payroll Office. Human Resources will be available to help you understand how these programs interact depending on your situation (hrstaff@stolaf.edu).

The current sick leave balance for exempt staff listed in Oracle does not reflect accrued time off, but instead has been a way for the college to reflect how it self-insured and covered sick time and Short Term Disability. This leave plan will be replaced by Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), Short Term Disability (STD), and PTO.

Because the new state laws also apply to student workers, aligning the college’s policies helps ensure compliance and cost control. Although student employment will continue to be managed separately, the college’s overall leave structure will be consistent and legally compliant. Students will not accrue PTO but they will continue to accrue ESST and will have the ability to apply for PFML.

This change provides several benefits:

• Simplicity: One time-off category means fewer rules and less tracking confusion.
• Compliance: Meets or exceeds state requirements for ESST and PFML.
• Well-being: Encourages employees to use their time off for rest and recovery.
• More equity in the time off policies and programs for all staff.

There is a calculation based on your average weekly wages. The state has provided a tool to help calculate this (for which you need to enter your total wages for three months). Please note that although you can use the calculator provided by the state, the state will not provide the PFML benefit to St. Olaf employees. The payment will be administered weekly by New York Life.

More to come from New York Life and in the Benefit Change Guide.

While you are on leave, you will continue to be responsible for your share of the insurance premiums and will be required to make regular payments in order to continue your coverage. During any parts of your leave for which you may also be using PTO, we will continue to make payroll deductions as normal to collect your share of the premiums. This is not a change from the college’s current policy. Retirement contributions and the college match will be suspended during a leave. (Section 304 in Staff Handbook)

The Personal Choice Day existed because, years ago, Good Friday was removed as a college holiday. Instead, employees were given a Personal Choice Day. Since then, we have added the Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth holidays, and we have provided employees with paid days off between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. If people volunteer during college events such as move-in weekend, they can still receive a personal choice day. Or if people have to work on a holiday or office closure between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, they can take time off to offset the day worked.