Paid personal leave policy generator

We took personal leaves a step further to create compassionate leave, a flexible, private approach to personal leave. Use our free personal leave policy generator as a starting point for a policy that prioritizes pay, privacy, and job-protection for your employees.

General information

Company name
Do you have unlimited PTO?
Yes
No

Employee eligibility

Which employee types are eligible for this policy?
Full-time
Full and part-time
Do you have a tenure requirement for personal leave eligibility?
Yes
No
If yes, what is the required length of service?
months

Leave pay

How many weeks of paid personal leave do you offer?
weeks
What percent of an employee's salary do you pay during leave?
%

Leave increments

Can personal leave be taken incrementally?
For example, an employee may take 2 weeks of leave in June, and then another 2 weeks of leave in August.
Yes
No
If yes, what is the minimum required leave increment?
For example, you may require an employee to take leave in at least one week increments.
day(s)
week(s)
If yes, what is the maximum number of leave increments?
For example, an employee can only take their allotted leave time in a single period, or over the course of multiple legs.

Over what time period is someone allowed to take the maximum time?
This is on a rolling period. We see most employers use 12 months, which is also in line with FMLA guidelines.
months

Requesting leave

How should an employee request a personal leave at your company?
What are the qualifying reasons for this policy?

• Bereavement following the death of family or close community member
• Pregnancy loss / miscarriage
• Abortion procedures, recovery, and related travel
• Legal proceedings (e.g. custody hearings, legal components of gender affirmation, proceedings concerning incidents of sexual violence or sexual harassment)
• Acute mental health distress (e.g. residential treatment programs, hospitalizations, recovery from traumatic event, manic or depressive episodes)
• Other

Here's your paid personal leave policy language:

Policy statement
At ---, we believe all employees should have access to paid protected time off for pivotal life events that may fall outside of traditional leave types like parental and medical leaves. We believe it is crucial to empower our employees to make important life and self-care decisions privately and free from judgment or pressure.

This policy explicitly acknowledges that we will interpret and apply our unlimited PTO policy in a manner such that no employee will be required to disclose the reasons for their absence to their colleagues, manager, or company leadership when their absence is for a compassionate leave purpose. The following outlines our vision for how we will implement this important benefit in any instance when employees need it:

Employee eligibility

All

Qualifying leave reasons

Eligible employees may take paid personal leave for any of the following reasons:

Leave duration

Employees will receive ---% of their regular salary or wages for up to -- weeks of paid, job-protected leave in a rolling --- month period measured backward from the day any leave is sought.

Intermittent leave

Requesting leave

Group health benefits

Whenever possible under our group health plans, --- will permit employees to continue to group health plan coverage as if they were actively employed.

Non-group health benefits

d will continue employees’ benefits coverage other than group health benefits during periods of personal leave.

Coordination with statutory leave benefits

When required by law, --- will administer overlapping federal, state or local paid and unpaid leave benefits concurrently with leave under this policy. However, given the purpose and goal of this policy, we are committed to doing so in a manner that reduces as much as possible any burden employees might have to complete leave paperwork and/or respond to information requests.

FAQ

Can I use this policy language as-is?
This policy generator is based on Cocoon’s open-sourced compassionate leave policy but we always recommend that your own Counsel review before implementing any new policies.

Should I ask employees to go into detail about the reason for their personal leave?
The purpose of compassionate leave is to respect privacy as much as possible. That being said, HR teams should make sure that an employee is not taking compassionate leave for a reason that overlaps with an existing policy where another type of leave applies. At Cocoon, our HR leader tries to gather the most context with the least amount of prying. They walk anyone who needs a compassionate leave through our existing policies, to make sure that compassionate leave is the right decision.

What does Cocoon do again?
Cocoon is a leave management platform that uses first-of-its-kind technology to take the work out of employee leave. We partner with People teams at forward-thinking companies like Carta, Ironclad, and Vanta to save them hours per week, mitigate risk, and reduce stress for employees during life’s pivotal moments like welcoming a new baby or caring for a sick family member. Unlike traditional solutions, our software automates the most complex parts of compliance, claims, and payroll for a more efficient, modern, reliable experience. We support all FMLA leave types, personal leave, and ADA leave accommodations.

Why should I offer paid personal leave?
Leave doesn’t wait for when it’s most convenient for someone to take time away from work. There are going to be times when employees need to take personal leave for reasons that don’t fit into traditional leave types. Paid personal leave gives employees the privacy to determine their own priorities, rather than a rigid policy dictating which periods of life are “important enough” to warrant time away from work. Paid leave is now table stakes for employees, and the employers that will set themselves apart are those who show up for their employees through all of life’s moments.