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Volunteer Time Off

Posted online December 2, 2025 | 11:09 am

As an organization founded on a mission to care for others, we have fully embraced the idea of paid Volunteer Time Off. Every Mercy caregiver gets eight hours a year of paid time off that can be used to volunteer with an organization of their choice.

In fact, Mercy Springfield Communities leads all of Mercy in our use of VTO. That means across Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, our team here in Springfield has embraced VTO above every other location.

They’ve cleaned trash out of rivers and parks, helped build homes with Habitat for Humanity, cleaned local shelters, assembled back-to-school resources and assisted at food banks. In the past year, Mercy Springfield accounted for 32% of Mercy’s total VTO participation; our team logged 10,219 hours of VTO, and those hours totaled $333,501 of investment.

VTO is an easy way to support our team members and help them feel purpose in their work outside of our hospitals and clinics.

Business Takeaway

Volunteer Time Off is one of the simplest ways for employers to turn “community-minded” from a slogan into a system. Volunteer hours aren’t abstract “good deeds.” They are tangible capacity injected into the organizations that keep the region healthy and functional.

For businesses, the payoff is not just goodwill. VTO strengthens employee engagement and retention by giving people permission and structure to live out their values — and it builds pride in the workplace because coworkers can point to visible impact.

It also deepens a company’s ties to the nonprofit ecosystem, which creates reputational equity and relationships that matter when you’re recruiting, navigating community issues or looking for trusted partners.

Done well, VTO becomes culture-building and leadership development: employees practice teamwork, problem-solving and service in real-world settings, then bring that energy back to the office. In a market where differentiation is difficult and turnover is expensive, a well-run VTO program can be a high-leverage investment in both your people and the community they call home.

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Volunteer Time Off

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