It’s a Friday morning in August when I call Brittany Waiss, HR director for KettleHouse Brewing in Bonner, Montana. I want to chat about the brewery’s paid time-off policies—and I happen to reach her at her family’s lake house, where she’s enjoying a summer Friday away from work (though, apparently, still taking a reporter’s call).
We laugh about the coincidence, and that naturally segues into a conversation about why time-off policies are so important.
“It’s a recharge,” Waiss says. “Sometimes work is hard, even when you work in a fun environment. Being able to step away from it and have some fun … it just makes me feel like this place cares about me.”
Anyone who’s held a job could enumerate the ways that time off is valuable. Studies confirm what workers already know: Vacations offer psychological, physiological, and cognitive advantages that persist after the trip is done and an employee returns to work. Employers benefit when their workers are happy and healthy, too. Competitive paid time off (PTO) and sabbatical policies are tools for hiring, retention, and staff satisfaction.
However, PTO—as the word “paid” says clearly—incurs costs. A brewery pays wages while an employee is out and potentially pays another person to cover their tasks. Later, the brewery may also need to compensate a departing employee for PTO hours banked during employment.