Technical Note
The data in this news release were collected with a supplementary set of questions, the 2024-25 Leave
and Job Flexibilities Module, asked as part of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) in 2024 and 2025.
The ATUS--a continuous survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor
Statistics--focuses on obtaining information about how individuals age 15 and over spend their
time. For more information about the survey, see the ATUS User's Guide at
www.bls.gov/tus/atususersguide.pdf.
The 2024-25 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module was sponsored by the Department of Labor's Women's
Bureau. The purpose of this module was to obtain information about workers' access to and use of
leave, job flexibilities, and work schedules. The data in this news release pertain to wage and salary
workers and their main job. The data exclude all self-employed workers. Respondents to the 2024-25
Leave and Job Flexibilities Module answered questions about access to paid and unpaid leave, reasons
for taking leave, use of leave during the past 7 days, times when leave was needed but not taken,
shift work, advance notice of schedules, workers' control over their schedules, work-at-home
arrangements, and other related topics. There were about 6,600 respondents to the Leave and Job
Flexibilities Module in 2024-25.
Data in this news release are about job flexibilities and work schedules. These data were collected
directly from wage and salary workers and thus represent workers' knowledge on these topics.
Leave and Job Flexibilities Module data were collected from January 2024 through December 2025.
(Due to the federal government shutdown, no data for this module were collected from October 1, 2025,
to November 12, 2025.)
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access
telecommunications relay services.
Questions and concepts
The 2024-25 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module was introduced with the statement, "The next few
questions are about paid and unpaid leave from a job." Following the introduction, respondents were
asked whether they receive paid leave at their main job and, if so, the reasons for which they can
take paid leave. Respondents were then asked about their ability to take leave without pay and
reasons for which they can take unpaid leave from their main job.
Respondents with access to paid or unpaid leave were asked whether they had taken any leave during
the past 7 days. If they took leave, they were asked about the length and main reason for taking
leave.
In the next set of questions, respondents were asked about how much flexibility they have in arranging
their work schedules. Respondents were asked if they can vary or change the times they begin and end
work. If able to do so, respondents were asked how often they can change these times. Workers unable
to vary the times they begin and end work were asked whether they have input into their work schedules.
Respondents were then asked how far in advance they know their work schedule.
Next, respondents were asked about the time of day they usually work. Those working a non-daytime
schedule were asked about the shift they usually work and the main reason why they work this shift.
Next, respondents were asked about the greatest number of hours they worked in a week and the fewest
number of hours they worked in a week over the last month. Respondents were then asked how difficult
it would be to take an hour or two off during work hours to take care of personal or family matters.
Respondents were then asked on which days they usually work during the week.
Next, respondents were asked if they can work at home. Respondents who indicated they can work at
home were asked if they ever do work at home, if they are paid for the hours they work at home, and
the main reason they work at home. Those who were paid for the hours they work at home were asked
if they are required to work at home on a regular basis. Those who do work at home were asked if
there are days they work only at home and, if so, how often.
In the last section, respondents were asked if there were times during the past month in which they
needed to take off from work but did not. If so, respondents were asked their reasons for needing to
take leave. Respondents with access to paid or unpaid leave were asked about their reasons for not
using leave.
The Leave and Job Flexibilities Module questionnaire is available at
www.bls.gov/tus/questionnaires/lvmquestionnaire2425.pdf.
Definitions
Employment and earnings
--Employed. All people who:
1) At any time during the 7 days prior to the interview did any work at all as paid
employees, or worked in their own business or profession or on their own farm; or
2) Were not working during the 7 days prior to the interview but had jobs or businesses
from which they were temporarily absent because of illness, bad weather, vacation,
childcare problems, labor-management disputes, maternity or paternity leave, job
training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for
the time off or were seeking other jobs; or
3) Usually worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family-operated enterprise.
--Employed full time. For the purpose of producing estimates related to job flexibility and
work schedules, full-time workers are single jobholders who usually worked 35 or more hours
per week.
--Employed part time. For the purpose of producing estimates related to job flexibility and
work schedules, part-time workers are single jobholders who usually worked fewer than 35
hours per week.
--Main job. For people holding more than one job, the questions in the Leave and Job Flexi-
bilities Module referred to the characteristics of their main job--the job in which they
usually worked the most hours.
--Wage and salary workers. These are workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips,
payment in kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public
sectors. For the purpose of producing estimates related to job flexibility and work schedules,
wage and salary workers do not include any self-employed workers; this differs from the
annual ATUS news release, in which workers who are self-employed and whose businesses are
incorporated are classified as wage and salary workers.
--Usual weekly earnings. Estimates represent the earnings of full-time wage and salary workers
with one job only, before taxes and other deductions.
--Weekly earnings quartiles. The ranges used for the quartiles represent approximately 25
percent of full-time wage and salary workers who held only one job. For example, 25 percent
of full-time wage and salary workers with one job only had weekly earnings of $840 or less
in 2024 and 2025. Weekly earnings in the 25th to the 50th percentile range amounted to $841
to $1,250 in 2024 and $841 to $1,320 in 2025. Weekly earnings in the 50th to the 75th
percentile range were $1,251 to $1,970 in 2024 and $1,321 to $2,020 in 2025. Those earning
greater than the 75th percentile had earnings of $1,971 and higher in 2024 and $2,021 and
higher in 2025. Earnings ranges were estimated using the 2024 and 2025 ATUS data.
Job flexibilities and work schedules
--Work schedule flexibility. Respondents were asked "Do you have flexible work hours that
allow you to vary or make changes in the times you begin and end work?" Respondents were
identified as having work schedule flexibility if they answered "yes" to this question.
--Workplace flexibility. Respondents were asked "As part of your job, can you work at home?"
or, for those with multiple jobs, "As part of your main job, can you work at home?" If
asked, respondents were instructed to include any other remote or off-site location where
they chose to work when answering this question. Respondents were identified as having
workplace flexibility if they answered "yes" to one of these questions.
--Workers who did work at home. If respondents were identified as having workplace flexi-
bility, they were asked "Do you ever work at home?" Those who answered "yes" to this
question are classified as workers who did work at home.
--Daytime schedule. The majority of time respondents worked was between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
--Evening shift. The majority of time respondents worked was between 2 p.m. and midnight.
--Night shift. The majority of time respondents worked was between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.
--Rotating shift. Hours change periodically from days to evenings or nights.
--Split shift. Hours consist of two distinct periods each day.
--Usual days worked. Respondents were asked, "Which days of the week do you usually work?" or,
for those with multiple jobs, "Which days of the week do you usually work at your main job?"
Some respondents identified the days they usually worked and also said their schedule varies.
--Variability of weekly work hours. Respondents were asked, "In the last month, what is the
greatest number of hours you've worked in a week at your job? Include any extra hours,
overtime, work you did at home, and so forth." They were then asked, "In the last month,
what is the fewest number of hours you've worked in a week at your [current/main] job? Do
not include weeks in which you missed work because of illness or vacation."
Comparability of the estimates
ATUS time-use data
Estimates about work at home presented in this news release differ from estimates generated from other
surveys, including estimates on work at home presented in the annual ATUS news release.
Data collected in the 2024-25 ATUS Leave and Job Flexibilities Module measure whether workers can and
do work at home at their main jobs, whether they are paid for this work, their reasons for working
at home, and their frequency of working at home.
By contrast, annual data from the ATUS provide measures about the population of workers who work at
home on a given day. These estimates are derived from data collected in the time diary. Workers who
sometimes work at home but did not report working at home in their one-day diary are not counted in
the estimates about work at home. Additionally, ATUS estimates about work at home include a mix of
both scheduled and unscheduled work. Reported work times may have been as short as one minute spent
checking a work email account to more than a 12-hour work shift.
2017-18 ATUS Leave and Job Flexibilities Module
The 2024-25 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module questionnaire is very similar to the 2017-18 Leave
and Job Flexibilities Module questionnaire. Some questions were dropped and some were added or
modified to obtain better information about the availability and use of flexible and alternative
work schedules. Unlike the 2017-18 Leave Module, the 2024-25 Module didn't include a question on
whether workers' flexible work schedules are part of a formal program or policy offered by their
employer. The 2024-25 Module also didn't collect the number of days workers usually work at their
main job.
One question had a minor change. An optional interviewer probe was added to the work-at-home question
to instruct respondents to include any other remote or off-site location where they choose to work.
This change was made to reflect the wide range of remote work arrangements.
The 2024-25 Module included three additional questions that were not included in the 2017-18 Module.
These included a question to collect the greatest number of hours workers have worked at their jobs
during a week in the last month, the fewest number of hours workers have worked during a week in the
last month, and how difficult it would be for workers to take an hour or two off during a regular
workday to take care of family or personal matters. Response options for the question about advance
notice of work schedules were changed to capture shorter and more detailed information about work
schedule notice. These questions were added or modified to provide additional information about the
instability of the workers' schedules and the ability of workers to take time off with little notice
if needed.
2011 ATUS Leave Module
The 2024-25 Leave and Job Flexibilities questionnaire is very similar to the 2017-18 Leave and Job
Flexibilities Module questionnaire, which was a re-designed and improved version of the 2011 Leave
Module questionnaire. In 2017-18, questions were added, dropped, and modified. The 2011 Leave
Module included some questions about workers' ability to adjust their work schedule or location
instead of taking time off from work. In 2017-18, these questions were replaced with questions about
workers' usual schedules and their access to schedule and workplace flexibility.
Employer-based surveys
Estimates of access to job flexibility that are derived from responses to household (or employee
-based) surveys may differ from estimates produced using establishment (or employer-based) surveys.
Establishment surveys often provide more detailed and specific data on employer policies, while
household surveys provide information about the experiences and characteristics of people and their
households. Household data from the 2024-25 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module allow researchers to
examine job flexibilities in the context of workers' demographics, such as their sex, age, ethnicity,
education, and race. These data also provide insight into the reasons why people work at home and
why they work non-daytime schedules when they do. In addition, employer-based surveys often measure
the incidence of more formal arrangements between employers and their employees. The 2024-25 Leave
and Job Flexibilities Module captures both formal and informal arrangements governing access to job
flexibility.
Reliability of the estimates
Statistics based on the ATUS Leave and Job Flexibilities Module are subject to both sampling and
nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, estimates differ
from the true population values they represent. The component of this difference that occurs because
samples differ by chance is known as sampling error, and its variability is measured by the standard
error of the estimate.
Sample estimates from a given survey design are unbiased when an average of the estimates from
all possible samples would yield, hypothetically, the true population value. In this case, the
sample estimate and its standard error can be used to construct approximate confidence intervals,
or ranges of values that include the true population value with known probabilities. If the
process of selecting a sample from the population were repeated many times, an estimate made from
each sample, and a suitable estimate of its standard error calculated for each sample, then
approximately 90 percent of the intervals from 1.645 standard errors below the estimate to 1.645
standard errors above the estimate would include the true population value. BLS analyses are
generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence.
The ATUS Leave and Job Flexibilities Module data also are affected by nonsampling error, which is
the average difference between population and sample values for samples generated by a given
process. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment
of the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or
unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or
processing of the data.
United States Department of Labor
