PTO Utilization Questions

Review this article to learn more about the process and policies that support PTO management as well as approval/denial of requests.

To support consistency and clarity across the organization, please keep the following guidance in mind:

1. Department leaders are responsible for managing departmental staffing needs, which includes approving or denying PTO requests based on business needs, available coverage, and operational requirements. (HR-421 Paid Time Off (PTO))

2. Employees are responsible for monitoring and maintaining awareness of their own PTO balances. Before submitting a request, employees should ensure they have enough accrued PTO to fully cover the time off being requested.

3. Employees should have sufficient accrued PTO at the time a request is submitted. If an employee does not have enough accrued PTO to cover the request, the request may be denied.

4. If a request is approved based on the employee’s PTO balance at that time, but the employee later uses some or all of that time before the scheduled time off, the approval may be rescinded. If prior approval is rescinded and the employee fails to report for duty for those shifts, the resulting time off will be considered occurrences under the attendance policy. (HR 5016 Attendance Policy)

5. For department-specific processes and expectations, employees are encouraged to connect directly with their department leadership to understand how PTO is managed within their team.

6. Department leaders are encouraged to contact MUHC Employee Relations to create & approve a documented Attendance Guideline for their departments that would supplement to HR 5016.