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69 percent of civilian workers with paid sick leave received a fixed number of days in 2021

February 04, 2022

In March 2021, 79 percent of civilian workers had access to paid sick leave. Of the civilian workers who received sick leave benefits, 69 percent received a fixed number of paid sick leave days, 29 percent received sick leave as part of a consolidated leave plan, and 2 percent received paid sick leave days as needed.

Percent of civilian workers with paid sick leave benefits by type of provision, March 2021
Group Fixed number of days per year As part of consolidated leave plan As needed

All workers

69% 29% 2%

Union

86 12 1

Nonunion

65 32 2

Full time

66 31 2

Part time

81 18 1

Eighty-six percent of union workers received a fixed number of paid sick leave days, while 65 percent of nonunion workers had this type of provision. Sixty-six percent of full-time workers received a fixed number of paid sick leave days, while 81 percent of part-time workers had this type of provision.

Among workers who received a fixed number of paid sick leave days, the average number of paid sick leave days available after 1 year of service was 8 days per year. Union workers received an average of 10 days of paid sick leave per year after 1 year of service, while nonunion workers received an average of 7 days. Full-time workers received an average of 8 days of paid sick leave per year, while part-time workers received an average of 6 days.

Percent of civilian workers with sick leave plans that provide a fixed number of days per year, by number of paid sick leave days after 1 year of service, March 2021
Group Fewer than 5 days 5–9 days 10–14 days 15–29 days More than 29 days

All workers

20% 48% 27% 4% Less than 0.5%

Union

14 28 48 10 1

Nonunion

21 53 23 3 Less than 0.5

Full time

17 47 31 5 Less than 0.5

Part time

33 57 9 1 -

These data are from the National Compensation Survey — Benefits program. For more information, see "Employee Benefits in the United States — March 2021" and the complete dataset (XLSX). We also have more charts on employee benefits. Civilian workers include all employees in private industry and those employed by state and local government. For information on the effects of COVID-19 on sick leave policies, see Supplemental data measuring the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on sick leave plans.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 69 percent of civilian workers with paid sick leave received a fixed number of days in 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/69-percent-of-civilian-workers-with-paid-sick-leave-received-a-fixed-number-of-days-in-2021.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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