It depends on organizational culture, Lisa Satteson, chief human resources officer at Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health, told Becker’s.
Ms. Satteson, who was on vacation recently, had a designated point person for that time, she said. An email went out communicating this to her team so that individual could handle anything that typically comes her way.
The same goes for others on her team; it is important for the leader to model the way of handling preparation for unplugging on PTO, she said.
While it is important for executives to be able to unplug, sometimes emergencies arise.
“The hospital operations component is challenging because it’s a 24/7 operation,” Ms. Satteson said.
Executives are quick to answer texts if needed in emergencies, but it is not encouraged or required to attend meetings when on PTO, for example, she added.
Earlier in her career, employees earned paid time off based on how many hours they worked. Now, it is more common for a PTO bank to be front-loaded, Ms. Satteson said. Executives at Jefferson Health typically use four to six weeks of time away, she said.
“Executives work all the time, so let it up to them in terms of how they use [PTO],” Ms. Satteson said.
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