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.
These data on leave were collected directly from wage and salary workers. The data thus represent
workers' knowledge on these topics. Workers sometimes do not know whether they can use leave or
adjust their work schedules until they have a need to do so. 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.
Leave 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 2024-25 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 leave, 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 leave, 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 Flexibilities
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 leave, 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.
Leave related
--Paid leave. Respondents were asked “Do you receive paid leave on your current job?” or, for those
with multiple jobs, “Do you receive paid leave on your main job? By main job, we mean the one at
which you usually work the most hours.” Respondents were identified as having paid leave at their
main job if they answered “yes” to one of these questions.
--Unpaid leave. Respondents were asked “Are you allowed to take time off from work without pay?”
or, for those with multiple jobs, “In your main job, are you allowed to take time off from work
without pay?” Respondents were identified as having unpaid leave at their main job if they
answered “yes” to one of these questions.
--Reasons for taking leave. If respondents answered “yes” to having paid or unpaid leave, they were
asked about specific reasons for which they could take paid and unpaid leave. The reasons are:
own illness or medical care; illness or medical care of another family member; childcare, other
than for illness; eldercare; vacation; errands or personal reasons; and birth or adoption of a child.
--Workers who needed to take leave. Respondents were asked if there were times in the previous
month when they needed to take leave but did not. Those who responded “yes” were asked, “Why
did you need to take off work?” Those with access to paid or unpaid leave were asked, “Why did
you decide not to take leave?”
Other
--Average week. The average week reflects an average across all wage and salary workers in the
population for the period of 7 days prior to the interview day. Interviews are conducted on
nearly all days of the year. The sequence of days included in the average week differs for
respondents whose interviews were conducted on different days of the week. For example, if the
interview was conducted on a Friday, the average week refers to the previous Friday through
Thursday (yesterday). If the interview was conducted on a Monday, the average week refers to
the previous Monday through Sunday (yesterday).
--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?” Respondents
were identified as having workplace flexibility if they answered “yes” to one of these questions.
Comparability of the estimates
The 2024-25 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module is very similar to the previous 2017-18 Leave and
Job Flexibilities Module to the ATUS. However, there are a few differences. In order to obtain better
information about the availability and use of flexible and alternative work schedules, a few questions
were added, dropped, or modified. The questions about access to leave, reasons for taking leave, and
unmet leave were the same in both modules.
In the 2024-25 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module, an instruction about what respondents should include
as “work at home” was added for clarity. If needed, respondents were instructed to include any other
remote or off-site location where they chose to work as “work at home.” While this instruction was not
included in the 2017-18 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module, the addition of this instruction is thought
to have minimal effect on the estimate.
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.
Nonsampling error and leave. Data provided in the Leave and Job Flexibilities Module may be affected
by nonsampling error for a variety of reasons. Access to paid or unpaid leave may be misreported if
respondents are unaware of their employers' leave policies. For example, newer employees may not yet
know whether they can take paid or unpaid leave from their jobs, under what circumstances or for which
reasons they can take leave, or the different types of paid leave available to them. Some employers may
have formal or written leave policies, while others may rely on employees' supervisors to convey and
implement leave policies. Unless employees have inquired about the specific leave arrangements, they
may not know if the specific leave arrangements are possible. For example, workers with paid leave who
have never used unpaid leave may not know if they can use unpaid leave or under what circumstances they
may use unpaid leave.
Differences between employer- and employee-based surveys. Estimates of access to leave that are derived
from responses to household (or employee-based) surveys may differ from estimates produced using establishment
(or employer-based) surveys. In general, employer-based surveys often provide more detailed and accurate data
on employer leave policies, while household surveys allow researchers to examine demographic factors such as
sex, age, ethnicity, education, and race, and how they relate to leave availability and usage.
United States Department of Labor
