Flexible work schedule and student loan repayment benefits

In 1980, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published the Employee Benefits in Private Industry from a pilot survey of private sector benefit plans. The pilot survey included information on hours and days per week worked, paid and unpaid lunch and rest time, and paid leave.

Annually, the National Compensation Survey (NCS) program publishes statistics on the costs, coverage, and provisions of employer sponsored benefits. In order to produce relevant statistics about the national economy, the NCS periodically evaluates emerging trends in compensation and modifies the National Compensation Survey and methodologies.

Two benefits were published for the first time with a June 2019 reference period: flexible work schedule and student loan repayment. While the data reflected the percentage of workers with access (available for their use) to these benefits, it did not include additional details about the type of flexible hours arrangements available to workers, employee participation, eligibility requirements, or the average dollar and maximum amounts employers may reimburse for tuition. Starting with the March 2020 publication, these benefits are included in the annual Employee Benefits in the United States publication as part of the quality of life and financial benefits.

In March 2026, 8 percent of civilian workers (includes private industry, as well as state and local government workers) had access to student loan repayment and 16 percent had access to flexible work schedules. (See chart 1.)

Flexible work schedule

For the purposes of the NCS, if workers are able to set their own schedules within a general set of parameters, they have access to flexible work schedule benefits.

For example, employees may be required to work a minimum of five hours per workday, but work can be performed anytime between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Workers may also have a compressed work schedule available to them, where they may work longer hours each day but fewer days in a week (e.g., employees work four ten-hour days).

Among private industry workers in March 2026, a flexible work schedule was available to 31 percent of workers in management, professional, and related occupations. Ten percent of service workers, 19 percent of sales and office workers, 8 percent of natural resources, construction, and maintenance workers, and 8 percent of production, transportation, and material moving workers had access to a flexible work schedule. Eight percent of state and local government workers had access to a flexible work schedule. (See chart 2.)

Among private industry workers in March 2022, 17 percent of full-time workers and 11 percent of part-time workers had access to flexible work schedules. In March 2026, 19 percent of full-time workers and 13 percent of part-time workers had access to flexible work schedules. (See chart 3.)

Student loan repayment

Student loan repayment is considered available to employees when employers provide monetary support to employees for education they already obtained. Ongoing educational expenses are not included in the access estimates.

Among civilian workers, 4 percent of the lowest 25th average wage category and 13 percent of the highest 25th average wage category had access to student loan repayment in March 2026. (See chart 4.)

Among private industry groups, 3 percent of workers in leisure and hospitality had access to student loan repayment assistance and 20 percent of workers in information had access in March 2026. (See chart 5.)

Estimates are available for civilian workers, private industry workers, and state and local government workers by worker and establishment characteristics, and geographic areas. For more information, see the Classification Systems Used by the National Compensation Survey (NCS) page.

More information

Estimates on the cost, coverage, and provisions of employer–sponsored benefit plans from 2010 to the present are available through the historical dataset and public database. Flexible work schedule and student loan repayment estimates for the June 2019 reference period are available in Excel. Benefit estimates are not a time series and users are advised to consider changes in survey design, survey scope, estimation methods, weighting, and sample rotation when analyzing the data. Join the BLS Mailing Lists to receive notification of the latest data releases.

The glossary of employee benefit terms provides definitions for plans, provisions, coverage, and related terms. The National Compensation Measures Handbook of Methods provides information on the survey design, calculations, weighting, and imputation methods used to produce compensation estimates. The calculation section includes information on the measures of reliability available for each estimate. Additional information on Employee Benefits can be found in the EBS Publications, Monthly Labor Review, and the questions and answers page.

Last Modified Date: September 25, 2026