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HUMAN RESOURCES DISCUSSION GROUP

Join the Human Resources Discussion Group on the third Thursday of each month to connect with peers from fellow MBA member banks. These sessions focus on key HR topics, including compliance, employee benefits, recruiting, talent development, and more. It’s a great opportunity to share ideas, ask questions, and discuss the issues that matter most to your bank.

Attend as often as your schedule allows—these informal, collaborative meetings are designed to give members a space to share ongoing challenges, gain fresh perspectives, and learn from one another.

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Each month, we conduct a brief survey featuring questions submitted by members. If you have a question, topic, or speaker suggestion for the Human Resources Discussion Group, feel free to send it my way anytime. I would be happy to include it in the next survey! Click here to email me.

Survey results will be shared each month via email and compiled on our website for easy access. Be sure to check back regularly for the latest updates and resources.

Dates

  1. January 16, 2025
  2. February 20, 2025
  3. March 20, 2025
  4. April 17, 2025
  5. May 15, 2025
  6. June 19, 2025 (rescheduled to June 18, 2025)
  7. July 17, 2025
  8. August 21, 2025
  9. September 18, 2025
  10. October 16, 2025
  11. November 20, 2025
  12. December 18, 2025

APRIL 2025

Posted: Apr 1, 2025
Categories: HRDG
Comments: 0
Author: Chad Pook

This month's topics include:

  • Board Structure
  • Grant Writing
  • Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)
  • Compensation Reviews
  • PTO vs. Vacation/Sick Time Policies
  • Vacation Policies

Timeline:

  • Week of April 1st – Collecting survey questions
  • Week of April 7th – Survey release
  • Week of April 14th – Survey results shared
  • April 17th – Discussion Group meeting

View the April 2025 HR Survey results (click each question to reveal the responses)

Do you have any resources or guidance on board structure, including the number and types of director committees?
Sorry no
HR doesn't have a view into the committees, but there are the usual ones (i.e., Compensation, Audit, Loan, etc.)
As of now we have 11 board members. Committees consist of board of investment including one or two compensation meetings annually, audit committee, long range planning, quarterly trustee meetings, ALCO, advertising and nominating.
No we don't
no
Our board is comprised of 12 Directors and they hold 9 meeting per year. The Board has 5 committees each with the following composition and meeting frequency:
Executive Committee: 5 members; meets 24 times per year
Audit Committee: 4 members; meets 4 times per year
Compensation Committee: 5 members; meets 4 times per year
ALCO Committee: 3 members; meets 4 times per year
Foundation Committee: 3 members; meets 4 times per year
N/A
Have you worked with a grant writer to obtain a general Workforce Training Grant? If so, would you recommend them?
Josh Britton is very good.
no
We have only used the Express Grants through the WT Grant program, which doesn't require any heavy lifting. For a full-fledged grant, I'd have to see what's involved. To answer the question, NO we haven't used a grant writer.
No
I used one in my previous job located in New Jersey but had local trainers in Massachusetts to conduct training once grant was approved. Sorry do not recall the name of the company.
not sure
We have not worked with a grant writer.
No
No, I have not.
The Training Associates, based in Marlborough, MA (Web Link: https://thetrainingassociates.com) helped me partner with Human Power Solutions. Human Power Solutions (HPS) helped me write our grant proposal in 2020. We were awarded a 2 year Workforce Training Grant to conduct training for our employees.
The training provider we selected offered to write the grant and help manage the tracking needed to submit for reimbursement.
Has your organization seen an increase in PFML usage, specifically for employees taking leave to care for ill or aging parents?
Significant increase: 15.79% (3 respondents)
Slight increase: 47.37% (9 respondents)
Decrease: 26.32% (5 respondents)
Not sure / Don’t track this specifically: 10.53% (2 respondents)
Are you considering adding any type of caregiver benefits services to their 2026 benefit offerings?
Yes: 4.76% (1 respondent)
No: 61.90% (13 respondents)
Unsure or have not considered it: 33.33% (7 respondents)
Do you have any comments, insights, or experiences to share related to caregiving benefits?
the only care giver coverage we have is the Mass PFML paid leave to care for a family member
Would be interested in learning about caregiving benefits.
our MAPFML usage is down for 2025
We looked at CariLoop as a potential partner , but deferred offering it at this time
Have you worked with any firms to conduct compensation reviews or analyses for specific positions (e.g., C-suite roles such as CEO, CFO, etc.)? If so, please list the firms you've used. (Looking for recommendations beyond Pearl Meyer.)
One Digital
Liz Bernaiche
Lbernaiche@onedigital.com
no, we have not
Pearl Myer
One Digital
Not that I know of....
Just Pearl Meyer
No
We use Pearl Meyer and AON/McLagen
No
We use Pearl Meyer.
Primarily use Pearl Meyer for Executive group. Have done a larger compensation review for the entire organization with The Wilson Group.
Balanced Comp: https://balancedcomp.com/
How many of you have PTO vs Vacation/Sick?
PTO: 40.00% (8 respondents)
Vacation / Sick: 55.00% (11 respondents)
Other (please specify): 5.00% (1 respondent)
PTO and Sick Policies
When transitioning to a PTO policy, did you combine existing sick and vacation time into a single PTO bank? For example, if employees previously received 40 hours of sick time and 2 weeks of vacation, did that convert to 3 weeks of PTO, or did you structure it differently?
We combined what would be vacation, sick & personal.
Because ours followed a merger with each bank having different accrual rates as well as policies on carry over, we did an evaluation of what the standard vacation by level and years of service would be first and then a "buyout" of the "bank" of carryover.
We do not have combined PTO bank
We combined vacation and added 8 of our 10 sick days and 1 of the 2 personal days were added to the PTO time.
We combined all previous eligible days into one PTO bucket
This transition to all PTO happened before the current HR team was here, so I don't have an answer.
We still offer PTO and vacation
Not combined here.
We did not combine. We essentially converted vacation to PTO, with a separate APTO (annual PTO). APTO time is only used when PTO is depleted and should be used for unplanned time. It is treated like sick/personal time and has no cash value at separation. All FT employees receive 7 days of APTO per annum and can carryover up to 7 from year to year to build somewhat of a sick Bank. PTO is use it or lose it and does not carryover.
Yes, we combined vacation, sick and personal, did not add or take away the number of days.
PTO and Sick policies are separate. The PTO policy combined the existing Vacation and Personal Day policies.
Yes.
Not sure changes were made before I was hired at TCB. However I was told when time off was broken out, vacation, sick and personal were generous. Looks like combining to PTO reduced some days overall.
How does your organization handle holidays under your PTO policy?
Holidays are kept separate from PTO: 86.67% (13 respondents)
Holidays are combined into the PTO bank: 0.00% (0 respondents)
Other (please specify): 13.33% (2 respondents)
N/a
Vacation/Sick with separate Holidays
Are employees happy with shift in policy?
Yes: 77.78% (7 respondents)
No: 0.00% (0 respondents)
Other (please specify): 22.22% (2 respondents)
unsure-it happened before my time.
n/a
What aspects of the program/process are working well?
yes and no -
Easier to track. We don't feel we need to know why someone is out, just that they are on PTO
I think employees are satisfied with the combined PTO bank. They get to use the time for whatever they want.
Easy to administer and works well for us overall. Employees have come to expect the flexibility of PTO.
In conjunction with the transition to PTO from the Vacation and Personal Day polices, we also changed how we award additional PTO. Prior to the transition, employees (Officer level and below) earned an additional week of PTO when they began their fifth year of service, and then again when at the tenth year of service. Employees now earn an additional day of PTO each year until their tenth year of service, at which point they will have received the maximum PTO bank of twenty-four (24) days. In addition, keeping the Sick policy separate means that we do not have to pay out as much accrued PTO should an employee terminate or retire.
All aspects work well.
What were your pain points?
they are having a hard time with the accrual and seeing negative balances
Difficult to manage employees who abuse/overuse their time off with call outs. While APTO is supposed to be "banked" in a sense to cover employees in the event of an extended absence, some employees use it like PTO and do not reserve enough time to manage unforeseen absences.
Pain points were minor as we kept sick policy separate. There was some initial administrative set up in HRIS as well as some education but all in all it has been a win/win.
N/A
Tapping out of PTO to early in the year
What would you have done differently?
I think what we are doing works well, but communication and oversight by managers is important.
N/A
Add wellness days
How many weeks of vacation are new hires offered?
Less than 2 weeks: 0.00% (0 respondents)
2 weeks: 33.33% (6 respondents)
3 weeks: 27.78% (5 respondents)
4 weeks: 0.00% (0 respondents)
More than 4 weeks: 0.00% (0 respondents)
Varies by position/level: 33.33% (6 respondents)
Other (please specify): 5.56% (1 respondent)
2 weeks for non exempt, 3 weeks for exempt
After how long with the company does an employee become eligible for 4 weeks of vacation?
Varies by position
depends on position
nonexempt 12 years
officer 10 years
5 - 13 years depending on level: level 1-5, 13 years; level 6, 10 years; officers, 5 years
At 3 years, they get 4 weeks.
10 years
For hourly: 15 years; For Exempt, Supervisor/Manager: 15 years; For VP and above: immediately
8 years
15 years
10 years
7-19 years
10 years
10 year
Varies by level: VP and above earn 4.8 weeks of PTO at hire; Officers earn 4.8 weeks of PTO at 5 years of service; Staff earn 4.8 weeks of PTO at 10 years of service
7 years.
Increases to 17 days at four years, 19 days at six years, and four weeks at 10 years. However, all VP level gets 4 weeks.
Year 2 to 5
How long does someone need to be with the company to get 5 weeks vacation?
Only senior officers receive 5 weeks of Vacation benefit
25 years
25 years
10 years.
4 weeks is the max. All employees receive 7 PTO days.
20+ years
N/A
Only VP and above get 5 weeks meeting certain criteria; the cap is 4 weeks for everyone else.
15
20+ years
n/a
25 years
Our PTO policy is capped at 4.8 weeks (24 days)
10 years.
Twenty years, but all SVP level and up gets five weeks.
10 plus years
Does Senior Leadership and above receive 5 weeks of vacation?
Yes: 47.06% (8 respondents)
No: 47.06% (8 respondents)
Other (please specify): 5.88% (1 respondent)
Sometimes. Usually it is 4 weeks.
Are there any vendors, speakers, or topics you would like to suggest for discussion this month or in future meetings?
has anyone worked with Doctor's Choice (medicare purchase assistance)?
Given the determination by MA SJC last fall, where it was determined that companies do not have to accrue PTO for employees while they are on leave (PFML), did everyone stop accruing or is it being considered?

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