There are some companies in my area (and I'm sure others) that pay employees all of their PTO on their employment anniversary, for example, 10 vacation days and 5 sick days. Then, if they take time off for a vacation or illness, the days are unpaid, or more accurately, previously paid.
The goal is to make the employee think, “Hey, if I never take any time off, I get an extra 15 days' worth of pay for the year.” It strongly discourages employees from ever taking a vacation or using a sick day.
What do all of you think of this practice? Would you appreciate the opportunity to increase your annual pay, or would you resent the discouragement to ever take any time off?
Personally, my husband had a job with this policy years ago, and I hated it. He never wanted to take a full week-long vacation. The most I could convince him to do was a 3- or 4-day weekend. That way he never went a full week without a paycheck.