Paid time off is typically associated with vacation. But at many credit unions, employees are using those hours to serve their communities.
Many of the 68 winners in American Banker's ranking of the
Without dipping into their vacation or sick days, these lenders' employees can take time off to pitch in at a food pantry or a soup kitchen, serve on the board of a nonprofit or help rebuild a house destroyed by a natural disaster. Some credit unions designate certain charity groups to work with, but in many cases employees can volunteer wherever they want.
"It gives our employees the opportunity to choose how they can give back to the world," said Derek Fuzzell, chief financial officer of
It's not just credit unions. Some 28% of all U.S. employers now offer PTO for volunteering, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, a trade group for H.R. workers.
"VTO is gaining popularity among U.S. employers due to its wide-ranging benefits, including increased engagement, enhanced employer branding and employee attraction and retention," April Brasher, an H.R. knowledge advisor at SHRM, said in an email.
For employers, Brasher said, the perk offers many benefits. As employees — particularly millennial and Gen Z workers — derive more meaning and fulfillment from their jobs, both their morale and their skill sets grow stronger. And as these people venture out to help their neighbors, the employers' reputation in the community improves.
PAHO/WHO Federal Credit Union, which is based in Washington, D.C., serves employees and retirees of the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization. The credit union's "Annual Volunteer Time" is an employee favorite, according to Fuzzell.
He said the benefit was introduced in 2004 and has grown in popularity since then — so much so that in early 2020, the company raised employees' allotment from 24 hours per year to 40.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, leaving many white-collar workers isolated from their communities. But a surprising thing happened at PAHO: Instead of neglecting their VTO, employees started using it more than before.
"During the pandemic, in particular, people wanted to find ways to give back, to feel like they were contributing," Fuzzell said. "We had a couple of employees who volunteered with local-area hospitals as candy stripers, and that was a really big thing for them."
PAHO's workers can use their volunteer hours anywhere — and they do. One employee traveled to Kentucky to help rebuild houses after a series of tornadoes. Another went to Cuba to distribute food and teach children about financial literacy. And back home in Washington, D.C., staffers worked with a local charity to plant an orchard of fruit trees in an at-risk neighborhood.
Among the Best Credit Unions to Work For, PAHO is not even the most generous provider of time off for volunteer work.
Like PAHO, the Little Rock-based credit union allows workers to volunteer wherever they want. But it also partners with Ronald McDonald House, which provides housing for families of children undergoing treatment for cancer.
When the charity hosts "
Why is VTO so popular at these lenders? Fuzzell believes the answer has to do with the nature of credit unions, which by design are community-focused nonprofits.
"I think the idea behind credit unions — really the idea of people helping people — is one of the fundamental ideas to this benefit," Fuzzell said. "We're not just helping people when they walk into our branches … We're also helping people in their communities."
