Design a fair paid time off (PTO) policy
A PTO policy covering accrual, requests, carryover, emergencies, and misuse, plus manager guidance for applying it consistently.
The prompt
Help me design or revise our paid time off (PTO) policy.
Organization: [size, industry, locations - countries/states matter]
Current setup: [accrual or front-loaded, separate sick leave or combined, unlimited, current days]
Problems we're seeing: [e.g. "last-minute requests", "people never take leave", "uneven approvals between managers", "suspected misuse around holidays"]
Operational constraints: [coverage needs, peak seasons, shift work]
Goals: [e.g. "simpler", "fairer", "reduce burnout", "control liability on the balance sheet"]
Cover:
1. Eligibility and accrual (or allowance), including part-time and new hires.
2. Requesting and approving leave: notice periods, how conflicts are decided (first come, rotation, seniority), and blackout periods if any.
3. Carryover, caps, and payout at termination.
4. Unplanned and emergency absences: sick days, family emergencies, bereavement, and what documentation is reasonable.
5. Handling misuse fairly: patterns to look at, a conversation-first approach, consistent steps, and what not to do (e.g. penalizing protected leave).
6. How employees can raise concerns or appeal a decision.
7. Guidance for managers to apply the policy consistently, with 3 example scenarios.
Return the policy text in plain language, a one-page employee summary, and a list of points marked [CHECK LOCAL LAW]. Leave entitlements, sick leave, and payout rules vary by country and state, so have HR or employment counsel review before rollout.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore HR & Hiring prompts
What to fill in
- size, industry, locations - countries/states matter
- coverage needs, peak seasons, shift work
- CHECK LOCAL LAW
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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