Access to selected pay protection benefits, March 2014

Employer-provided sick leave and disability benefits plans provide pay protection to ill or injured workers who would otherwise suffer loss of income due to non-work-related injuries or illnesses. In the United States, paid sick leave may be provided by employers, although such coverage is mandatory only in a few states and localities. An estimated 61 percent of private industry workers were covered by a paid sick leave plan in March 2014; coverage varied by occupation, establishment size, industry, and other factors.

In March 2014, 82 percent of management, professional, and related workers have paid sick leave, compared with 63 percent of workers in sales and office occupations.

The larger the establishment size, the more likely its workers had access to paid sick leave or short-term disability benefits. In establishments with 500 or more employees, 81 percent of workers had access to paid sick leave, while only 50 percent of workers for establishments employing 1 to 50 persons had access.

By industry, employees working in the information sector had the greatest access to paid sick leave (91 percent), followed by those in the financial activities industry (86 percent). Employees in the leisure and hospitality industry had the least access (28 percent).

These data are from the National Compensation Survey and are featured in the September 2015 Monthly Labor Review article “Pay protection during temporary absences from work: what we know and what we don’t know” by William J. Wiatrowski.