betenbough homes
time off & Leave
PAID TIME OFF (PTO) | Betenbough Companies recognizes the value of its team members' efforts and the importance of time off from work. To support this, the Company has designed a paid time off (PTO) plan that incorporates vacation, personal, and sick leave into one policy that provides full-time team members with time to relax and recharge in a healthy rhythm of rest while employed.
PTO accruals are based on your anniversary date and do not roll over year after year because we encourage you to use it within the given year. During years one through three of employment, PTO has zero cash value if not used during the calendar year. In year four and beyond, PTO can be cashed out as explained in the section below. In all instances, PTO has zero cash value upon separation of employment.
PTO is provided to full time team members and can be requested no further than one year in advance and must have the pre-approval of your leader. PTO related to sudden illness requires notification to the leader as soon as possible and may require medical documentation for repeated or long-term illness. In year two of continuous employment, you may request up to five consecutive work days of PTO at a time. In year three of continuous employment, you may request up to 10 consecutive work days of PTO at a time.
PTO is allotted based on a team members compensation plan workweek within the following categories:
- 30 hour workweek is allotted at 6 hours per day.
- 35 hour workweek is allotted at 7 hours per day.
- 40 hour workweek is allotted at 8 hours per day.
- 45 hour workweek is allotted at 9 hours per day.
Unpaid time off is subject to leader approval and is available to you during your first six months of employment or if you have exhausted your accrued PTO.
PTO Accrual
10 days
year five and beyond
25 days
Commission-Only Employees Commission only team members will continue to be paid per closing regardless of their physical presence at work. However, they do earn days off based on length of service outlined in the chart above. In order to be good stewards of this benefit, commission only team members are required to approve their schedule with their leader and track their time off.
PTO Cash Out In year four and beyond, you have the option to cash out a portion of your unused PTO. Since the company’s desire remains for employees to take time to relax and recharge in a healthy rhythm, you must use at least three weeks PTO before being eligible to cash out remaining PTO. Remaining PTO will be cashed out at a discounted rate of 50 percent of your current base pay rate. Requests for PTO cash out will need to be submitted prior to the pay period of your anniversary and the payout will fall within the pay period of your anniversary date once approved by your leader.
Hourly + Commission Employees In year four and beyond, you have the option to cash out a portion of your unused PTO. Since the company’s desire remains for employees to take time to relax and recharge in a healthy rhythm, you must use at least three weeks PTO before being eligible to cash out remaining PTO. Remaining PTO will be cashed out at a discounted rate of 50 percent of your current regular pay rate and will be calculated by a flat-rate per day structure. Requests for PTO cash out will need to be submitted prior to the pay period of your anniversary and the payout will fall within the pay period of your anniversary date.
Full Commission Employees In year four and beyond, you have the option to cash out a portion of your unused PTO days. Since the company’s desire remains for employees to take time to relax and recharge in a healthy rhythm, you must have taken off three weeks before being eligible to cash out remaining PTO days. Remaining PTO days will be cashed out at a discounted rate of 50 percent of your current regular pay rate and will be calculated by a flat-rate per day structure. Requests for PTO days cash out will need to be submitted prior to the pay period of your anniversary and the payout will fall within the pay period of your anniversary date.
PTO For Returning Employees If a former full-time team member returns to full-time employment within one year of departure, they will regain unused earned PTO and their years of service calculation will resume. Any former full-time team member who returns to full-time employment after more than one year of departure will forfeit any unused earned PTO and years of service.
OVERTIME | Non-exempt team members will receive overtime pay in accordance with the federal and state wage and hour laws. Overtime pay is based on the actual hours worked. For this reason, time off for sick leave, vacation, and other paid or unpaid leaves of absence is not counted as hours worked when calculating overtime pay. All overtime must be approved by your leader.
SABBATICAL LEAVE | Sabbatical Leave exists to encourage you to take time for rest, renewal, and reflection after every 10 years of continuous employment. The Hebrew origin for sabbatical is “shabbat” which means “to cease”. This offering is intended to be a blessing, not a burden. We believe it is a healthy practice to step away from your work identity and gain new perspective – both for you and your team.
Following every 10 years of continuous employment, permanent full-time team members are required to take four consecutive weeks of sabbatical leave. They will receive sabbatical leave in addition to the normally allotted five weeks of PTO and are still eligible to attend a vision trip. With that in mind, only four weeks can be taken consecutively. A sabbatical cannot be scheduled during a time that a team member is walking through a season of “red” correction (see coaching continuum).
Sabbatical leave must have the pre-approval of the leader with at least 60 days’ notice. It is the responsibility of the leader to encourage their team members to schedule their sabbatical leave, ensuring they are guilt-free about their absence. Team members are required to remain “off work” during this time including work emails and phone calls.
Subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of the applicable plans, all insurance benefits will continue to be provided for the four weeks of sabbatical leave. As always, team members are required to pay their portion of premium costs.
MILITARY LEAVE | We will grant a military leave if you are absent from work because you are serving in the U.S. uniformed services in accordance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). You must give your leader advance notice of upcoming military service, unless military necessity prevents advance notice, or it is otherwise impossible or unreasonable.
You will not be paid for military leave. However, you may use any available accrued paid time off, to help pay for the leave. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), exempt team members may not have their salary reduced for partial-week absences due to temporary military leave.
As such, exempt team members who work any portion of the work week and are absent the remainder of the week for military-related duties will be paid the entire week at regular base pay.
Continuation of health insurance benefits is available as required by USERRA based on the length of the leave and subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of the applicable plans for which you are otherwise eligible.
If you are on military leave for up to 30 days, you must return to work on the first regularly scheduled work period after your service ends (allowing for reasonable travel time). If you are on military leave for more than 30 days, you must apply for reinstatement in accordance with USERRA and applicable state laws.
When you return from military leave (depending on the length of your military service in accordance with USERRA), you will be placed either in the position you would have attained if you had stayed continuously employed or in a comparable position. For the purpose of determining benefits that are based on length of service, you will be treated as if you had been continuously employed.
VOTING TIME OFF | In accordance with Texas law, any team member will be provided two consecutive hours of PTO on election days to vote (assuming you have not already voted, and you do not have two consecutive hours outside your normal working hours). Team members must coordinate this time away from work in advance with their leader.
JURY DUTY | Paid jury duty is provided to permanent full-time employees. We encourage you to fulfill your civic responsibilities by serving jury duty if you receive a summons. Time off taken for jury duty will be treated as a paid absence and does not count against PTO. If you are dismissed earlier than your scheduled workday, you are required to come back to work.
MEDICAL LEAVE | Medical leave is provided to permanent full-time team members who need extended leave due to their own serious illness or injury that is expected to last seven calendar days or longer.
Permanent full-time team members are eligible for paid medical leave if certified by a physician. Benefits will be paid at 100% of weekly earnings based on the following schedule:
- If employed for one year or longer, team members are eligible to receive up to six weeks of paid, medical leave in a 12-month period.
- If employed less than one year, team members are eligible to receive up to three weeks of paid, medical leave in a 12-month period.
You are not required to disclose specifics of your medical condition or reason for leave to your leader, but you must provide a doctor’s request along with the dates you expect to be out of the office.
Medical leave taken under this policy will run concurrently with all other leave types, including but not limited to FMLA (the Family and Medical Leave Act), parental leave, ADA leave, and workers’ compensation.
PARENTAL LEAVE | Parental leave is provided for permanent full-time team members following the birth or adoption of a child for the purpose of bonding. Benefits will be paid at 100% of weekly earnings based on the following schedule:
Primary Caregivers If employed for one year or longer, team members are eligible to receive up to eight consecutive weeks of parental leave. If employed less than one year, team members are eligible to receive up to four weeks of parental leave.
Non- Primary Caregivers If employed for one year or longer, team members are eligible to receive up to two weeks of parental leave within the first month of birth. If employed for less than one year, team members are eligible to receive up to one week of parental leave within the first month of birth.
Parental leave will run concurrently with medical leave. For example, a primary caregiver, employed one or more years, who gave birth will typically receive six weeks of medical leave benefits which will be followed by two weeks of parental leave benefits for a total of eight weeks of paid leave between the two policies.
Parental leave benefits will not be paid beyond the stated benefit. If a team member continues to be absent from work, they are eligible to request PTO.
FOSTER LEAVE | Foster leave is provided for permanent, full-time team members who are the primary caregiver in the family. Following the start of a fostering event, team members are eligible to receive up to one week (five working days) of leave per fostering event. In the case where the fostering event becomes an adoption, parental leave would then apply.
FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA) | We follow federal guidelines as they apply to FMLA. If you have any further questions, please contact Employee Support for full FMLA guidelines.
General Provisions
We will grant up to 12 weeks of leave during a 12-month period to eligible team members (or up to 26 weeks of military caregiver leave to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness). The leave may be paid, unpaid, or a combination of paid and unpaid leave, depending on the circumstances of the leave.
Eligibility
To qualify to take FMLA under this policy, the team member must meet all of the following conditions:
The team member must have worked for the Company for 12 months or 52 weeks. The 12 months or 52 weeks does not have to be consecutive. Separate periods of employment will be counted, provided that the break in service does not exceed seven years. Separate periods of employment will be counted if the break in service exceeds seven years due to National Guard or Reserve military service obligations or when there is a written agreement, including a collective bargaining agreement, stating the employer’s intention to rehire the team member after the service break. For eligibility purposes, a team member will be considered to have been employed for an entire week even if the team member was on the payroll for only part of a week or if the team member is on leave during the week.
The team member must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the commencement of the leave. The 1,250 hours do not include time spent on paid or unpaid leave. Consequently, these hours of leave should not be counted in determining the 1,250 hours eligibility test for a team member under FMLA.
Qualified Types of Leave
To qualify as FMLA leave under this policy, the leave must be for one of the reasons listed below:
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- The birth of a child and in order to care for that child.
- The placement of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child.
- To care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.
- The serious health condition of the team member.
- Qualifying exigency leave for family members of the National Guard or Reserve or of a regular component of the Armed Forces when the covered military member is on covered active duty or called to covered active duty.
- To care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the team member is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of the covered service member.
Team members with questions about their FMLA rights and responsibilities are encouraged to consult with Employee Support to review full details not included in this document.
BEREAVEMENT | Bereavement leave is provided to permanent full-time team members who need to take time off work due to the death of an immediate family* member.
Benefits will be paid at 100% of weekly earnings based on the following schedule:
• Up to four weeks in the case of death of a spouse or child
• Up to one week in the case of all other immediate family* members
* Any person who is related to you by blood or marriage, or whose relationship with you is similar to a relative even though they are not related by blood or marriage.
DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION | We are committed to complying fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAA). We are also committed to ensuring equal opportunity in employment for qualified persons with disabilities. We conduct all our employment practices and activities on a non-discriminatory basis.
It is our policy not to discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in regard to application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, training or other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.
We will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with a disability so that they can perform the essential functions of a job unless doing so causes a direct threat to these individuals or others in the workplace and the threat cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation or if the accommodation creates an undue hardship to us.