Does Your Company Give Paid Volunteer Time Off (VTO)?

​Creating a thriving and efficient work environment isn’t always about what happens in the office - sometimes, it’s the time you encourage your employees to take off that makes the biggest difference. Offering your employees volunteer time off is an amazing way to get them engaged in the community, can help boost the image of your company, and can help further the mission of your business. 


What is VTO?

Like paid time off, volunteer time off (VTO) policies offer employees the chance to take a day off with pay. Rather than going on vacation or taking sick leave, VTO is for volunteering. Offering paid days off to your employees encourages them to take advantage of the opportunity, and can even help boost employee morale. 

Most companies that offer VTO offer somewhere between 8 and 80 hours per year, with some even offering employees the chance to take paid sabbaticals to dedicate themselves purely to volunteering. An organization offering VTO can choose just how much time they will allow, and can even dictate which organizations employees should volunteer with to qualify. By requiring employees to volunteer for specific causes and organizations, you’ll be able to direct time, energy, and effort toward a cause that matters to you and your business. 

Some companies require employees to take at least 8 hours of VTO throughout the year, implementing mandatory minimum volunteer hours for all members of staff. Other companies leave the choice entirely up to the employee, allowing them to request as much or as little VTO as they want. Approving employees for VTO is a relatively straightforward process, and requires little more than a simple scheduling protocol for employees to submit requests for VTO with reasonable advanced notice.


What Are the Advantages of a VTO Policy?

Some business owners might frown at the idea of paying their workforce to ‘work’ elsewhere for a day, but despite the lost working hours, there are plenty of advantages to implementing a VTO policy in your organization. 

• Reputation & Image: Consumers across the board favor companies and organizations that participate in their communities and show conscious effort towards making the world a better place. The impact on your bottom line is clear. Reputation Institute found that consumers are 350% more likely to buy from companies they hold in high regard. Encouraging employees to volunteer and offering VTO is just one of the ways you can prove to your consumer base that your company truly cares, and puts its money towards creating real change and making a real impact. 

 

• Recruitment & Retention: Studies show that Millennials are more likely to accept positions at companies that show commitments to social investment. When employees feel like they are able to make a difference on the job, they’re more likely to stick around. Research by SurePayroll shows that there’s a 28% reduction in absenteeism in companies with strong engagement compared to those that do not.

 

• Employee Satisfaction: Employees working for an organization that emphasizes doing good tend to be more satisfied in their positions, and will speak more highly of their employers. Chances are that your employees probably have similar values to you, and are interested in things that would impact your company or the community in which it exists. Having a mutual interest and goal is an incredible unifying factor, which is why volunteering can create happier, more satisfied teams. In addition to making a difference in the community, VTO can be a super fun experience, bonding the team and creating a more positive atmosphere back at the office. 

 

• Leadership Development: Volunteering can give employees opportunities to improve and strengthen skills in a way they are unable to in their day to day work assignments. This fosters growth and encourages employees to develop new leadership skills that can be adapted to workplace scenarios and lead to promotions and reduced voluntary turnover.
  
  
• Foster a Healthier Community: Wherever you have set up shop (or office, or warehouse, etc.), it is important to become part of your community and to support it in a meaningful way. Community success becomes a personal success, and by working together, many businesses and organizations have helped to make significant change in neighborhoods and communities in need of support. Lending your employee hours to the community can help you to cement your organization as a member, and can help to create a better, more prosperous community for all. 

Companies that Offer VTO

If you decide to begin offering your employees VTO, you’ll be joining the more than 65% of companies that already have these programs in place. Some of the biggest, most well-known corporations are also those with the most generous VTO policies, and more and more professionals are beginning to expect their employers to dedicate a portion of their resources to community and social programs. Here are just a few of the companies that offer VTO to their employees: 

• Allstate: 16 VTO Hours, Required. ​
• Build-A-Bear Workshop: 4 VTO Hours
• PNC Bank: 40 VTO Hours
• Capital One: Maximum of 32 VTO Hours
• Google: Maximum of 20 VTO Hours
• Verizon: 50 hrs. VTO Hours, Required

How You Can Create a VTO Policy

If you haven’t already, now is the time to begin offering your employees paid volunteer time off. Creating a basic VTO policy is fairly simple, and if you already have a PTO policy in place, you will be able to follow its basic framework. Some important details for your VTO policy to include are: 

• Minimum or maximum number of hours required/allowed
• Information regarding placing requests for VTO in advance
• Regulations to ensure that VTO won’t conflict with peak hours or busy seasons
• Approved organizations for VTO
• Eligibility information (full-time employees only, all employees, etc.)
• Performance requirements

Ready to take it to the next level? 

These are companies who are going above and beyond and offering an even greater depth to their community service programs:

• NuStart Energy (Texas): Loan Executive Program offers 3-5 months paid; this is a competitive program offered to just one employee each quarter.
• Gibson (Indiana): Offers unlimited Paid Time Off for volunteer service.
• Johnson and Johnson (New Jersey): Extended Volunteer Leave Policy allows employees to take up to 2 weeks each year for volunteer trips, 40 hours of which is paid. That’s not all, Johnson and Johnson also offers specials programs like competitive Global Pro Bono and Secondment Program which off sabbaticals up to six-months to work on-assignment in service to organizations in developing countries or high-need causes. 
• DeLoitte (London): Pro Bono support encourages employees a chance to make a long term commitment to a specific nonprofit or cause. Employee in their stepup program use modules and a formal training program to learn how to provide value and leadership in communities in addition to providing pro bono services to organizations. 

Want to learn more about making a difference in your community? Visit Blackbird Philanthropy Advisors insights blog to discover much more. ​