PTO, paid time off, is the American umbrella term for compensated absence: vacation, sick days and personal days, often pooled into one bank rather than tracked separately. US employers set PTO by policy; there is no federal minimum, which startles colleagues from countries with statutory leave.
The regional translation matters in global companies: what Americans call PTO or vacation, the UK, Australia and New Zealand call annual leave, with statutory minimums attached. Leave systems that speak both dialects save HR a thousand clarifying emails.