Amazon PTO & Vacation Policy

Paid leave is an essential part of any job offer package. Before you accept a job at Amazon, take a look at its policy for PTO, including paid vacation and personal time. Depending on your location, number of working hours and years of experience, Amazon offers a different number of PTO days.

How Much Vacation Does Amazon Give?

The Amazon vacation policy depends on whether you’re a part-time, reduced-time or full-time employee. Depending on the number of years you’ve worked at Amazon:

• Part-time workers can earn between 5-10 days of Amazon vacation time.
• Reduced-time workers can earn between 7.5-15 days of Amazon vacation time.
• Full-time workers can earn between 10-20 days of Amazon vacation time.

For first-year full-time salaried employees, you can expect 10 Amazon vacation days. Remember that the longer you work at Amazon, the more vacation days you can accrue. Once you reach 6+ years, you can earn up to 20 Amazon vacation days.

How Much Personal Time Does Amazon Give?

Personal time constitutes a separate type of compensated leave. In the United States, salaried workers can accumulate between 3 and 6 days of personal time based on their employment status as part-time, reduced-time, or full-time employees.

Personal time is accrued in conjunction with vacation time. Consequently, the total paid time off (PTO) offered by Amazon to a newly hired employee includes 10 vacation days and an additional 6 personal days.

What Other Paid Leave Does Amazon Offer?

In addition to traditional PTO (including vacation and personal time), Amazon offers seven paid holidays. Amazon holidays in 2021 consisted of:

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

In addition to these Amazon paid holidays, this company offers sick leave according to local law, as well as leave for pregnancy and new parents, and some paid days for jury/witness, military, and bereavement leaves. You should check the specific Amazon leave policy with your HR director.

What About Unpaid Leave at Amazon?

Unpaid leave is also available at Amazon, though it’s subject to approval by your manager or HR director. Most unpaid time off at Amazon involves personal reasons related to family or well-being. You should speak with HR to learn if your reason qualifies for unpaid leave.

How Does Amazon PTO Work?

Amazon PTO is tracked every pay period. When you receive your paycheck, you’ll be able to check how much vacation and personal time you’ve accrued.

For personal time, employees accrue time starting on the last day of their first pay period and then during subsequent pay periods. Starting the next year, they’ll earn it on January 1st.

Overall, the Amazon vacation policy depends on several factors, including your location, number of working hours and years of experience. Be sure to check out the tables about Amazon PTO above to see your exact number of paid days.

Does Amazon PTO Roll Over From Year to Year?

According to the Amazon PTO policy, it doesn’t usually carry over into the next year. This means you should try to take advantage of your PTO days so that you don’t end up losing these days. Get in touch with your HR manager to ask the specifics of how your PTO can be used from year to year.

Does Amazon Pay Out Vacation and Other PTO?

Whether Amazon pays out PTO, including vacation, personal time and holidays, will depend on your exact location. Most state laws allow for PTO to be paid out, but sometimes vacation days or sick days aren't included.

You should check with your HR director and local laws to find out what aspects of PTO are paid out if you leave the company.

Is Amazon PTO the Same in Every Location or Country?

No, the number of PTO days listed here are for U.S. salaried employees. Other locations and countries may vary in the number of paid vacation, personal time and holidays. The exact Amazon PTO policy will depend on local laws and the Amazon benefit package offered there.

What About Hourly Amazon Employees in the U.S.?

Hourly Amazon employees have a different PTO policy according to the number of hours worked. If you’re a new hourly employee, you’ll earn between 2.5-5 days of vacation depending on whether you’re a part-time, reduced-time or full time employee.

How Does Amazon PTO Stack Up to Other Tech Companies?

Amazon’s PTO policy is somewhat on the low side compared to other tech companies. For example:

• Facebook offers 21 days of PTO/year.
• Google offers 15 days of PTO/year.
• Amazon offers 10 vacation days + 6 personal days a year.

As you can see, Amazon offers a slightly lower amount of vacation days compared to other top tech companies.

What Other Benefits Does Amazon Offer?

The Amazon benefit package is currently valued at $15k, which is somewhat lower than other tech companies. (Facebook offers a package valued at $21k and Google at $17k.) Here are some of the appealing benefits that Amazon offers:

• Remote-friendly work policy for up to two days a week
• Openness to side projects and sabbaticals
• Maternity leave
• Adoption assistance
• 401k match
• Pet-friendly workplace
• … and more!

A good sign is that Amazon employees are content with these benefits. 77% say that they’re satisfied with their Amazon benefit package.

Amazon PTO Quarter dates

These are the public holidays which you can expect to have off for each quarter. Each position is different however (you may still be required to work these days), but expect to get a day off around these dates:

Q1: Jan 1 to Mar 31

• New Year's Day, Jan 1
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 16

Q2: Apr 1 to Jun 30

• Memorial Day, May 29

Q3:July 1 to Sept 30

• Independence Day, July 4
• Labor Day, September 5

Q4: Oct 1 to Dec 31

• Thanksgiving Day, Nov 24
• Christmas Day, December 25

Check Out Alternatives With 4-Day Work Weeks

While Amazon PTO and benefits are fairly standard for the tech industry, you may still be worried about your work-life balance. If you’re looking for other options with greater flexibility and benefits, some companies are now offering 4-day work weeks. There are tons of advantages of 4-day work weeks for both employees and companies.

In fact, hundreds of companies are now hiring for 4-day roles. Be sure to check out opportunities from companies such as Bolt, GoLinks, Coconut Software and more. Achieve your goals in 2023 with a job that lets you strike the ideal work-life balance.