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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Employee Benefits > Publications > Factsheets

Paid sick leave: What is available to workers?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) first published statistics on paid sick leave as part of the 1979 pilot study on Employee Benefits in Industry and annually publishes the percentage of workers with access, the type of paid leave plan, as well as the number of days provided by length of service. This factsheet provides an overview of the sick leave estimates available through Employee Benefits in the United States.

In March 2025, 82 percent of civilian workers⁽¹⁾ had access to paid sick leave benefits. Employees are considered to have access to paid sick leave plans if it is available for their use.

Chart 1 data table

Table 1. Percentage of workers with access to paid sick leave benefits, March 2015 - 2025
Year	Private industry workers	Civilian workers	State and local government workers
2016	67%	70%	90%
2017	68%	72%	91%
2018	71%	74%	91%
2019	73%	76%	91%
2020	75%	78%	91%
2021	77%	79%	92%
2022	77%	79%	92%
2023	78%	80%	92%
2024	79%	81%	92%
2025	80%	82%	93%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey

For 63 percent of workers with paid sick leave, sick leave plans provide a fixed number of days per year⁽²⁾ with an average of 8 days available for their use after 1 year of service. Two percent of workers have an as-needed sick leave plan; that is, the plan does not specify the maximum number of days. For the remaining 35 percent, their sick leave plan is part of a consolidated leave plan, which provides a single amount of time off for workers to use for multiple purposes such as vacation, illness, or other personal business.

For workers with fixed number of days per year sick leave plans, 65 percent have a carryover provision, which allows them to accumulate unused sick leave from year to year. An unlimited carryover provision is available for 19 percent of workers, while 46 percent have a limit on the number of days they can accumulate from one year to the next. Carryover provisions are not available for 35 percent of workers with a fixed number of days per year sick leave plan.

Chart 2 data table

Table 2. Percentage of workers with fixed number of days sick leave plans by carryover provisions, March 2025
Provision	Civilian workers	Private industry workers	State and local government workers
Limit on days	46%	49%	35%
No carryover provision	35%	42%	7%
Unlimited accumulation	19%	9%	58%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey

Due to differences in the structure of paid sick leave, consolidated leave plans, and disability insurance, the BLS does not publish estimates on limit on days accumulated for civilian workers. However, it does publish the estimates for private industry, as well as state and local government, separately.

Chart 3 data table

Table 3. Limit on the number of carryover days, March 2025
Provision	Private industry workers	State and local government workers
25th percentile	6	60
50th percentile (median)	10	120
Mean	33	134
75th percentile	30	180
90th percentile	104	250
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey

Comparing private and public sector estimates

Estimate differences between private industry and state and local government stem from several factors such as variation in work activities and occupational structures. Manufacturing and sales, for example, comprise a large portion of private industry work activities but are rare in state and local government. Professional and administrative support occupations (including teachers) account for two–thirds of the state and local government workforce, compared with one-half of private industry.

More information

Estimates on the cost, coverage, and provisions of employer–sponsored benefit plans from 2010 to the present are available through the XLSX dataset and public database. 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 Employee Benefits 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.

END NOTES

⁽¹⁾ Civilian workers include those in private industry as well as workers in state and local government. Excluded are federal government workers, agricultural industry sector, private households, individuals who set their own pay, volunteers, and family members receiving token wages.

⁽²⁾ Employees earn or accrue a specified number of sick leave days per year. This number may vary by length of service.