So PTO is earned at a rate of like 1 hour per 30-40 hours worked (can never remember if it's 30 or 40). Each full day of PTO is considered 8 hours, so 40 hours of PTO is 5 full days. You don't start earning PTO until after you've been at Starbucks for 1 year, and if you've been with Starbucks less than 3 years then you cap at 40 hours (unless you're in California lol)

LOA stands for Leave of Absence, and there are a few different kinds. This would be considered a Personal Leave of Absence, and you have to be eligible for it. You have to sort of apply for it and have it approved. Typically, I don't believe management pushes for Personal LOAs until you're looking to take off for 2+ weeks.

If I wanted to take a week off for vacation but did not want to use PTO, would I have to take an LOA?

No, you do not. If you take a week off but you choose not to use PTO/Vacation Hours, you don’t have to. You just won’t be paid for that week you take off. I believe an LOA is required if you need more than 3 weeks off. I’m inly 90% sure of that but please double check if you come to that situation.

How many days can I take off without using PTO and without using LOA?

You can take off as many days as you want (also as allowed) and not use PTO/vacation hours. You can take 2 weeks off and not use any of it. You just won’t get paid if you choose not to use it.

How many hours of PTO would I have to use for it to count for a full week's vacation (for example, if I took 1 week off but only used 1 hour of PTO, would that mean I wouldn't have to take an LOA or is there a certain amount of hours of PTO you have to take?)

Let’s say you have earned 50 hours of PTO/vacation hours. If you want to cash out one hour of PTO/vacation hours during the week off, you will only get paid one hour. If you want to max out for the week, you would want to cash out more, I guess like 40 hours of PTO/vacation hours. It’s ultimately up to you how much you want to cash out based on what you’ve earned. Also, try not to mark it and then it’s overtime. Like whatever your max hours hour for a work week, don’t go over. You would only take an LOA for more than 3 weeks off. You can use your PTO/vacation hours during an LOA, you don’t have to. People also use it to top up on their paycheck.

I hope I understood your questions and that this is relevant and helpful to you! Please feel free to correct any info. I’m a Canadian partner. Double check with your manager and even PRSC.