Paid Time Off: Texas Health Staff

Clinic Practice Staff: Your PTO plan is separate. To see a summary about your benefits, click here. 

Urgent Care Staff: Your PTO plan is separate. To see a summary about your benefits, click here.

A Note About Holidays
Because a large part of our business operates 24/7/365, Texas Health as an organization is not closed for holidays, but we do recognize specific holidays for differential pay. Texas Health is a diverse organization with more than 29,000 individuals. Our PTO benefit is designed to provide employees with the ability to take time off on holidays important to them/holidays they observe (subject to your manager’s approval). Please note, some Texas Health clinics, departments and service lines do close on certain recognized holidays. Check the PTO FAQs at the bottom of this page for details. 

Texas Health offers the Paid Time Off (PTO) program to give you paid time away from work in whatever way you need: vacation, holidays, mental health break, sick days, personal days, injury or Family and Medical Leave. The PTO benefit is designed to give you freedom and choice in how you want to use your accrued time off. It’s time off for you to use to take time away from work in ways that works best for you (subject to your manager’s approval).

How It Works

Accrual Schedule

As a benefits-eligible employee, you accrue PTO each pay period beginning the first pay period after you complete 30 days of service. How much PTO you get is based on your position, how long you have worked at Texas Health and your actual hours worked within the pay period up to the amount shown in the PTO schedule. The table shows the annual PTO schedule for full-time employees scheduled in the payroll system to work 80 hours per pay period. If you are scheduled to work less than 80 hours (but 48 hours or more) per pay period, your rate will be a percentage of the schedule and up to the rate for your actual hours worked, if you work your scheduled hours. Click here for details.

_{-PRNs, part-time benefits-ineligible employees, executives and medical residents/interns/fellows are not eligible for Texas Health’s PTO Policy.
-Executives should see the Executive Time Off Guidelines.
-Medical residents/interns/fellows should see their contract for information on time off. 
-Time away from work for physicians and advanced practice professionals employed by THPG is based on their contract.} 

Maximum Hours

You may have up to 300 hours of PTO saved in your PTO bank. You will forfeit hours in excess of the maximum. 

Additional Details

• If you are a non-exempt employee, you are required to use PTO to bring you up to the hours for the week according to our Full-time Equivalent (FT) defined in the HR/Payroll system.
• You do continue to accrue PTO while taking PTO, which is a nice perk!
• You do not receive PTO while on an approved continuous leave of absence. 

Taking Time Off

Subject to your supervisor’s approval, you can use your PTO up to the amount that matches your scheduled hours in the HR/payroll system. Generally, you must use PTO when you are away from work on a regularly scheduled day, unless it would cause you to exceed the number of hours you are classified in the HR/Payroll system to work. However, there are some exceptions. You cannot use PTO if:

• Your absence is due to jury duty
• You are receiving bereavement pay
• Use of PTO while on suspension or unpaid administrative leave will be determined by the applicable Texas Health policy

You may use PTO, but are not required to use it if:

• You are on military reserve training or duty
• You are not at work or are sent home because of low census or other business reason

Employees may not use PTO during any pay week if using it would cause the employee to exceed the number of hours in the HR/Payroll system they are classified to work.

Exempt Employees If you are an exempt employee, you must use PTO in full-day increments based on your schedule for the day, unless you are on an intermittent FMLA leave. If you are on an approved intermittent FMLA leave and you choose to use your PTO for the portion of the day not worked, you must use PTO in hourly increments. If you are an exempt employee who is not on intermittent FMLA and you miss a portion of a scheduled day, you are paid for the full day without the addition of PTO. If you are an exempt employee and you miss a full scheduled day, you must record PTO.  

While you can use your time any way you need, here’s how a 40 hour per week employee with one year of service might use their time off throughout one year (for a total of 24 paid days away from work):

• 8 days for holidays
• 5 days for vacation
• 4 days to care for sick children
• 3 days for personal matters
• 2 days for a mental health break
• 2 days for sick days

PTO and Multiple Jobs

PTO accrual is based on the combined standard hours of all active positions. For more details on earning and taking PTO when working in more than one position at Texas Health, please review the PTO FAQs located at the bottom of this page under Additional Information.  

Converting PTO

During open enrollment, you can convert up to 80 hours of PTO you will earn the next calendar year (in 8-hour increments) to pay for your benefits. The value of the PTO hours will be added to your paycheck over 26 pay periods. To be eligible to convert PTO, you must elect at least one of the following benefits: medical, dental, vision, health care spending account, day care spending account, additional life insurance, additional AD&D insurance, additional long-term disability, accident insurance, hospital indemnity insurance, or critical illness insurance. You are limited to a combined total of 100 hours per year for converting, selling, and donating PTO. Physicians and mid-level providers employed by THPG are not eligible for PTO conversion.

Selling PTO

• You may sell PTO two times a year, up to an annual total of 80 hours
• You must maintain at least 80 hours of PTO after the sale.
• You may sell a maximum of 80 hours per year.
• Due to IRS regulations, the combined amount of PTO you convert, sell, and donate must be less than 100 hours per year.
• When you sell PTO, you will receive 80% of the value of your sold PTO hours as a cash payment and will be subject to applicable payroll taxes and 401(k) deductions (if you are enrolled in the 401(k) Plan).
• PTO may not be sold from the first or last pay periods of the year.
  • NOTE: The PTO sell link will be unavailable from Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 at 2:00 PM and will be reinstated on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024.

To sell PTO, visit MyTHR.org. Click on the Benefits tile, then My PTO Balance on the left. 

Donating PTO

You may donate your PTO hours to certain charities. Up to 80 hours can be donated each year as long as you maintain at least 80 hours of PTO after the sale. The hours you donate are included in the 100-hour annual maximum for the selling, converting, and donating of PTO. When you sell your PTO for donation to a charity, the proceeds are reported as taxable income to you. Your PTO donation will be subject to applicable payroll taxes.

Requesting a Leave of Absence

If you need to take a leave of absence, log on to www.MyTHR.org to submit your leave request. After completing your online request, you will receive an email with instructions. The email will be sent to the address you have listed on www.MyTHR.org. You do not receive PTO while on a leave of absence.

Additional Information

If you transfer to a Clinic Practice Staff position at a THPG clinic, in most circumstances you will be paid out any excess PTO balance over 80 hours and will start receiving PTO based on a different rate.  

Helpful Links

PTO FAQs

PTO Earning Codes