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Effects of the coronavirus on sick leave policies

The Bureau of Labor Statistics added several questions to the National Compensation Survey (NCS) to understand the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on sick leave plans. The questions asked whether private industry establishments made changes to their leave policies and whether employees used sick leave between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020. The estimates were calculated from the survey data collected between June 1, 2020 and July 21, 2020.⁽¹⁾ The survey results represent about 6.5 million private industry establishments in the United States from approximately 1,500 responding units.⁽²⁾ (See table A.)

Table A. Number of private industry establishments represented by and responding in the survey, June 2020
Category	Establishments ^[1]
Total in sampling frame	6,531,800
Goods-producing industries	763,800
Service-providing industries	5,768,000

Total in survey	5,900 ^[2]
Responding	1,500
Refused	4,400
Footnotes: ^[1] Number of establishments rounded to the nearest hundred. ^[2] Less than 50 survey establishments were out-of-business or out-of-scope. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

Highlights of the supplemental data

The NCS is used to calculate compensation cost, coverage, and provision estimates published in the Employment Cost Index, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), and Employee Benefits in the United States. In March 2019, the employer cost per employee hour worked for providing paid sick leave was $0.32 and 73 percent of private industry workers had access to this benefit.⁽³⁾

The highlights below summarize findings from the new questions related to the effects of the pandemic on sick leave plans⁽⁴⁾ in the United States. The estimates presented in these tables are not seasonally adjusted and are for the nation as a whole based on the June 2020 reference period.

Existing sick leave or paid time off plans remained unchanged in 73 percent of establishments.⁽⁵⁾ (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Table 1. Percentage of establishments that created or modified sick-leave or time-off plans, June 2020
(All establishments = 100 percent)
Establishment characteristic	Paid plan - estimate	Paid plan - standard error	Unpaid plan - estimate	Unpaid plan - standard error	Existing plans unchanged ^[1] - estimate	Existing plans unchanged ^[1] - standard error	Unknown - estimate	Unknown - standard error
All establishments	25	3.9	7	2.1	73	3.8	^[2]	^[3]
Goods producing	17	4	6 ^[4]	2.1	82	4.1	^[2]	^[3]
Service providing	26	4.3	8 ^[4]	2.3	72	4.2	^[2]	^[3]
1 to 99 workers	24	4.1	7 ^[4]	2.2	74	3.9	^[2]	^[3]
100 or more workers	45	6.1	23	3.5	53	6.3	1	^[3]
Footnotes: ^[1] Establishments without sick leave plans are also included in the estimate. ^[2] Estimate is less than 0.5 percent. ^[3] Standard error is less than 0.5. ^[4] Relative standard error is greater than 30 percent. Note: The sum of the individual components may be greater than the total because some employers provide more than one option. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

Twenty-five percent of establishments created or modified existing paid sick leave or paid-time-off plans (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Among establishments that created or modified existing plans: (See chart 2 and table 2.)
- thirty-four percent added 1 to 5 paid days,
- twenty percent added 6 to 10 paid days,
- thirty-seven percent added more than 10 paid days, and
- the number of days added was unknown for 8 percent of establishments.

Table 2. Number of paid days added to new or existing leave plans, June 2020
(All establishments with new or modified paid plans = 100 percent)
Establishment characteristics	1 to 5 days - estimate	1 to 5 days - standard error	6 to 10 days - estimate	6 to 10 days - standard error	More than 10 days - estimate	More than 10 days - standard error	Unknown - estimate	Unknown - standard error
All establishments	34	9.6	20	5.7	37	8.3	8 ^[1]	2.8
Goods producing	44 ^[1]	15.6	34 ^[1]	11.9	19 ^[1]	6.9	3 ^[1]	2.0
Service providing	33 ^[1]	10.4	19 ^[1]	6.0	39	9.0	9 ^[1]	3.0
1 to 99 workers	37	10.3	17 ^[1]	5.9	39	9.0	8 ^[1]	2.9
100 or more workers	9 ^[1]	3.6	61	5.9	20	4.1	10 ^[1]	4.7
Footnotes: ^[1] Relative standard error is greater than 30 percent. Note: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

Seven percent of establishments created or modified existing unpaid sick leave plans (See chart 1 and table 1.)
Among establishments that created or modified existing paid and unpaid plans: (See chart 3 and table 3.)
- ninety percent indicated plan changes are temporary, and
- ten percent indicated plan changes are permanent or could not provide information on whether the change was permanent.

Table 3. Percentage of establishments with temporary changes to new or existing leave paid and unpaid plans, June 2020
(All establishments with new or modified plans = 100 percent)
Establishment characteristic	Temporary - estimate	Temporary - standard error	Permanent or unknown change - estimate	Permanent or unknown change - standard error
All establishments	90	2.4	10	2.4
Goods producing	93	2.1	7	2.1
Service providing	89	2.6	11	2.6
1 to 99 workers	89	2.7	11	2.7
100 or more workers	93	2.4	7 ^[1]	2.4
Footnotes: ^[1] Relative standard error greater than 30 percent. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

The percentage of private industry establishments reporting the average number of sick leave days used (paid and unpaid) per employee between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020 included: (See chart 4 and table 4.)
- forty-two percent indicated workers did not use any sick leave days,
- twenty percent indicated that workers used between 1 and 5 sick leave days,
- ten percent of establishments indicated workers used more than 5 sick leave days, and
- twenty-eight percent did not indicate the number of sick leave days used.

Table 4. Percentage of establishments reporting the average number of paid and unpaid sick days used per employee, June 2020
(All establishments with leave plans = 100 percent)
Establishment characteristic	0 days - estimate	0 days - standard error	1 to 5 days - estimate	1 to 5 days - standard error	More than 5 days - estimate	More than 5 days - standard error	Unknown - estimate	Unknown - standard error
All establishments	42	4.2	20	2.5	10	2.6	28	3.3
Goods producing	41	7.3	25	6.3	10 ^[1]	4.7	23	5.3
Service providing	42	4.7	20	2.6	9 ^[1]	2.9	29	3.7
1 to 99 workers	43	4.4	20	2.6	9	2.7	28	3.5
100 or more workers	13 ^[1]	4.0	30	5.5	19 ^[1]	8.9	38	5.1
Footnotes: ^[1] Relative standard error is greater than 30 percent. Note: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

Complete dataset (XLSX)

The Excel spreadsheet contains all of the survey results on the impact of COVID-19 on sick leave policies in private industry establishments. The survey questions were asked at the establishment level such that results by worker characteristics are not available. The survey results are not available for additional establishments such as industry or geographic areas.

Supplemental questions related to sick leave policies during the coronavirus pandemic (PDF)

This section contains the survey questions sent to private industry establishment respondents. Respondents were provided a text box to enter additional or clarifying information regarding the establishment sick leave policies impacted by COVID-19.

What influence has the coronavirus pandemic had on your establishment's sick leave policy?
1. Created new plan(s)
2. Added paid days
3. Added paid time off/consolidated leave
4. Added unpaid days
Modified/extended existing plans(s)
1. Extended existing paid policy
2. Extended existing unpaid policy
No sick leave policy offered
Existing plan unchanged
Don’t knowPlease provide more information about the changes to your company’s sick leave policies due to the coronavirus pandemic. Do not include changes made for any other reason, such as the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
1. How many paid sick days were added?
  1. 1 - 5 days
  2. 6 - 10 days
  3. More than 10 days
  4. No paid days added
  5. No paid plan offered
  6. Don’t know
2. How many unpaid sick days were added?
  1. 1 - 5 days
  2. 6 - 10 days
  3. More than 10 days
  4. No unpaid days added
  5. No unpaid plan offered
  6. Don’t know
3. Are any of these changes to your establishment’s sick leave policy temporary?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don’t know
4. Which range best represents the average number of sick days taken per employee (including those who took no sick leave) from March 1, 2020 through May 31, 2020? Do not include FMLA days.
  1. 0 days
  2. 1 - 5 days
  3. 6 - 10 days
  4. More than 10 days
  5. Don’t know
  6. Optional: If you have additional comments or would like to explain any of your responses please do so here.
  7. {insert comments}
5. End notes
  
  ⁽¹⁾The survey results were calculated from responding private industry establishments benchmarked according to the June 2020 weights.
  
  ⁽²⁾The number of establishments are rounded to the nearest hundred.
  
  ⁽³⁾For additional information on the availability of paid sick leave benefits see paid sick leave: what is available to workers? The March 2020 ECEC indicate paid sick leave costs to employers were $0.35 per employee hour worked for private industry workers. See the release calendar for upcoming ECEC and Employee Benefits in the United States publications.
  
  ⁽⁴⁾Sick leave plans include paid and unpaid leave. If employees are required to make-up days used for sick leave then the NCS does not consider this arrangement a plan. If workers can fill-in for employees, then it is considered an unpaid sick leave plan by the NCS and the hours used are subtracted from the work schedule to determine the number of hours worked.
  
  ⁽⁵⁾Establishments without sick leave plans are also included in the estimate.
  
  Last Modified Date: August 31, 2020

Effects of the coronavirus on sick leave policies

On this page:

See also:

Highlights of the supplemental data

Complete dataset (XLSX)

Supplemental questions related to sick leave policies during the coronavirus pandemic (PDF)

End notes