Peachtree City will now give new employees two weeks of vacation time after their first year instead of just one. Human Resources Director Ellece Brown told the City Council on Thursday that the city’s decades-old policy of offering just one week of vacation has negatively impacted the city’s ability to attract new employees, and often resulted in individual negotiations with the city manager to approve exceptions. Brown said the marketplace standard has been two weeks of vacation for quite a few years, so the city needs to offer comparable benefits in order to successfully compete with other employers. The council unanimously approved the change.

Vacation hours are accrued per pay period, with individuals working 2,080 hours a year now getting an additional 40 hours, those working 2,184 hours receiving 42 hours, and anyone working 2,920 hours per year earning 72 hours of paid time off. The change will not affect the personnel budget, she said.