Q: One of my employees has now exhausted not only the new leave under the FFCRA but also all her PTO time. She wants to “borrow” time from future accruals. Can she do that?
A: This is a business determination that you will need to think about carefully. While you can create a system where employees are allowed to “borrow” a certain amount of unaccrued time, there are issues with that approach. Most commonly, employers find themselves with employees who have taken an advance of this type who quit, and then the employer is out the advanced money. You can have employees sign a 91A waiver that would allow you to deduct all “advanced” time from a final paycheck before allowing them to borrow against future accruals. However, employers may also find themselves in a position where there is simply no paycheck to take anything from if they quit unexpectedly.
