Recent PTO donations fulfill 10 requests
Your gift of a PTO donation can make a bigger impact than you know.
By Stephanie Williams, manager, benefits, USA Health
Thank you to those who recently donated PTO hours to the Emergency PTO Donation Program. A few weeks ago, I made a plea for PTO donations, and USA Health was able to fulfill 10 employee requests for a total of 314 hours. Since then, we have received additional requests for PTO donations, and are now down to 19 requests for a total of 894 hours. We are heading in the right direction.
At the beginning of the pandemic, USA Health started the Emergency PTO Donation Program to assist those who needed donated PTO to handle unexpected needs. While this program has proven to be very successful, over time PTO donations have fallen. Unfortunately, the need for donated PTO hours has not diminished and instead continues to grow.
The Emergency PTO Donation Program has been successful since its implementation for several reasons, including these that stand out to me:
- PTO hours can be donated in small increments, starting with a minimum of eight hours.
- PTO donations are applied on a “first-come, first-served” basis in the order in which they are received. This ensures that employees requesting donations are treated fairly.
- Donations are not a taxable event to the donor.
I know that 894 hours may sound like a lot of hours, but again, let me break this down using some numbers:
- If just 112 people donated eight PTO hours each, that would be 896 hours.
- If just 56 people donated 16 PTO hours each, that would be 896 hours.
This is a good time of the year to review your PTO balance to see if you can spare a few hours. Remember that at the end of the fiscal year, PTO balances for staff employees cannot exceed 480 hours, and Sept. 30 is right around the corner.
If you have any hours you cannot use, (e.g., you expect to be over your accrual limit for PTO, retirement, etc.), please consider donating those hours to benefit a colleague in need. Your gift of a PTO donation can make a bigger impact than you know. The mission of USA Health is to help people lead longer, better lives. This same mission also can apply to your colleagues. Please consider making a PTO donation today!
To donate, please visit our website: https://www.southalabama.edu/departments/financialaffairs/hr/epdp.html.
