What Is Voluntary Time Off?

Voluntary time off, sometimes known as VTO, is time off a company can offer its employees to take voluntarily when there’s no work to be done. Voluntary time off is typically unpaid, though it involves no repercussions for professionals who take it. In fact, companies encourage employees to take VTO in many cases, as doing so saves on payroll costs.

What are the benefits of voluntary time off for a business?

The main benefit of voluntary time off is that your business can save on payroll if you have overstaffing issues. If there is no more work for your team to complete, you can offer them time off voluntarily, avoiding excessive idle time and the increased costs associated with it.

In the long term, voluntary time off can also reduce the need for layoffs if your company experiences reduced workloads for a prolonged period of time.

How to track voluntary time off in your business?

To track voluntary time off in your team, you should take advantage of a time tracking system. An app like WebWork can help you track VTO by creating several leave policies with its Leave Management tool. You’ll then be able to keep track of your team’s leave balances across all of your company’s policies—from VTO to various types of paid time off.

What are the downsides of voluntary time off?

The biggest downside of VTO is that it can lead to severely lower salaries for your employees. In turn, this can create a negative perception of your company, especially if your team’s promised and actual salaries vary by a wide enough margin.

Moreover, if your staff don’t end up taking voluntary time off, you’ll still have to pay them, even if there is no work for them to complete.

As a result, voluntary time off is best used as a way to cut costs in unplanned low-work periods.

Are voluntary time off and volunteer time off the same?

No, voluntary time off and volunteer time off are not the same concept, even though they have a similar name. Voluntary time off is unpaid time off that a business may offer when there is no work to be completed for its staff. Volunteer time off, on the other hand, is time off that a company may offer to its employees for volunteering.