What is a standard for PTO (Sick & Vacation) when starting Admin Position?

[Like2Ski]

I was offered a senior administrative position. I would have oversight of academic units and report to the VP. They told me that I would start with Zero sick days and Zero vacation days. I am surprised I'd start with 0 for this kind of position.

Is this standard practice now? Does this seem "normal"? What does your institution do for new administrative hires?

What happens if I get sick or my kids do during the first month on the job?

[Antiphon1]

Are you talking bout moving from a faculty staff position to an administrative position at the same institution?  If so, you should be able to bring your unused PTO days with you when you change positions.  If you are moving to another institution, the standard is 1 earned sick day per month and being eligible for  vacation after at least a year in the position.  The time before vacation eligibility may vary from place to place, though.  As to the number of vacation days, that too is institution specific. For beginning administrative positions, the vacation earned per year is usually two weeks.  You need to ask HR about these policies as they may be slightly different depending on the department or school. 

[AJ_Katz]

I don't accrue vacation or sick time and never have.

[artalot]

Faculty don't accrue sick time or vacation here, either. A colleague of mine recently moved into admin and took no vacation for a year. Now, I think that they were able to travel over winter break, but still had to be available via email/phone/zoom.
I would urge you to negotiate. Lots of companies now hire with some accrued PTO. If higher ed wants to continue down this corporate path, it could at least try implementing some of the better practices from the corporate world.

[mythbuster]

It is common to start a new job with no PTO on day one. The key is knowing the rate of accrual and the cap.  How fast do you earn them, and at what point do you max out? Also, if you max out on vacation days, can you sell them back for cash? This is common in the corporate world- in academia they may think you are crazy.

Also, can you cash it all out when you leave? Through an accounting quirk, I earned vacation time as a grad student. After graduation, I was hired on as visiting faculty for a year, and so was able to cash out all my vacation time at the end at the higher rate-it paid for much of the cross country move!

I would also ask about Christmas Break and how that is accounted for. Some universities basically shut down entirely the week between Xmas and New Years- is that part of your PTO, or does it deplete your pool to actually have that week off?

So I would start asking these kind of questions, just be sure you understand how it all works. As an admin I would also ask about any possible times of the year where taking PTO is essentially banned. This is common in the retail world (no PTO allowed in November or December for the Christmas rush).

[Like2Ski]

It's a different institution.