Paid vacation days are down but the number of employers who offer paid sick leave to their workers has risen dramatically across all worker demographics over the last two decades, according to a U.S. Department of Labor study.
The number of all companies offering paid vacation decreased, from 82 percent to 77 percent, with the largest drop registered by employers with fewer than 100 workers (75 percent in 1992-1993 to 69 percent last year).
Most large employers still offer paid vacation — 86 percent in the latest survey compared to 90 in 1992-1993. Meantime, full-time workers who enjoy paid vacation days have, on average, two more paid days off a year than they did in 1992-1993.
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But the increases in paid sick days demonstrate how employers are responding to workers' needs, as well as recognizing that it's not smart to make sick people come to work.
The survey looked at five workforce slices: all workers, full-time workers, part-time workers, employers with less than 100 workers, and employers with 100 or more employees.
Among all workers, 61 percent now report that have paid sick leave through work. Twenty years ago, that was 50 percent.
Full-time workers enjoyed the largest jump— from 58 percent in 1992-1993 to 75 percent today.
More small businesses (52 percent) offer paid sick time today than in 1992-1993 (44 percent), while larger employers moved the paid sick time dial from 59 percent to 73 percent.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
