Employment lawyer explains why people should avoid opting for unlimited PTO

Paid time off (PTO) is a vital part of a job that allows employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance and ensure productivity. Moreover, it lets them take a step back and avoid burning out in a fast-paced world. Some companies offer employees a choice between unlimited PTO or a definite number of days. Although it can be very tempting to opt for unlimited PTO, Samy Harmoush—a workers' rights employment lawyer who goes by @misteradvocate on TikTok–posted an insightful video telling people what they should do if they get offered such a choice. The video has garnered 565K views and 453 comments on the platform.

Harmoush starts the video by saying, "If I've got a choice between unlimited PTO like some tech companies like to sell or like a definite number - 21 days, 27 days throughout the calendar year. I am always gonna take the definite number of days of PTO." While this may sound counterproductive, he goes on to explain why people should not opt for unlimited PTO. He highlights how he would get an increased amount of PTO every year he worked at the company, which meant that after some time, he could take many days off without worrying about it too much.

He shared, "But if I'm in a state like California where I get to get paid out any PTO that I have accrued, I'm gonna get a nice fat check along with my final check when I resign from that job." The man points out how this made more practical sense and could be enforced by employees on their employer. Harmoush expresses how opting for unlimited PTO made it difficult to gauge whether an employee is "owed anything" because they were essentially taking all the time they needed through PTO.

The lawyer also had one more observation about PTO in the caption of the short video. He wrote, "If I'm gonna make a choice on PTO, you will never catch me doing anything but getting the specific number of days I get off throughout the year." Harmoush insists that he would always prefer a fixed number of days for PTO, compared to "wishy-washy" promises of unlimited time. He then pointed out how certain managers could prevent employees from taking time off if the business did not allow it, which completely negated any benefits of having unlimited PTO.

People found Harmoush's video very helpful and put down their insights about unlimited PTO in the comment section. @solo_moneyy commented, "Unlimited PTO is a scam. Any time you try to take days off, they guilt trip you and hold promotions and raises back." @vicki.lester expressed, "I love it. To be frank, my company is very supportive of time off, but it also raises the bar for future companies I will work for." Another individual, @vaulting1906, shared, "I recall reading an article that people with unlimited PTO tend to take less time off."

You can follow Samy Harmoush (@misteradvocate) on TikTok and Instagram to see more content related to worker's rights.