Although 8 in 10 private sector workers had access to paid sick leave as of March 2025, the availability of leave is not uniform across occupations and industries.
Federal law generally does not entitle private-sector employees to paid sick leave, but 17 states and the District of Columbia have laws that require employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees. Three additional states require employers to provide paid leave that can be used for any purpose. Some employers who are not covered by state leave mandates elect to include paid leave as part of their compensation packages or provide it as part of collective bargaining agreements with employees.
"Studies of paid sick leave mandates have generally found positive impacts on workers' use of health care, their health outcomes and public health more broadly," according to a report from Congress.gov. "Estimated labor market impacts are more mixed, with some studies finding positive impacts on employment and earnings and others finding little evidence of such impacts. While positive or neutral business impacts are generally observed, data used in business studies are sometimes limited to a subset of establishments and may not reflect experiences of all employers."
Studies find paid sick leave to be associated with improvements in workers' health-care use, including preventive health services such as cancer screenings and vaccinations; health status; and a greater tendency to stay home when sick. Paid sick leave mandates also have been found to improve public health outcomes, particularly in reducing the spread of contagious disease such as flu or foodborne illness.
The theoretical impacts of paid sick leave mandates on labor market outcomes, such as employment and earnings, and business outcomes, such as productivity and profit, are more ambiguous. In practice, how paid sick leave mandates affect labor and business outcomes depends on the relative magnitudes of these forces, which are likely to vary across worker groups and workplaces.
Some studies observe a positive relationship between mandated leave and employment or earnings, while others find little evidence of such a connection. Research on business impacts of mandates is also relatively limited and more recent, but it indicates generally positive or neutral net impacts for businesses, on average.
Congress has considered a range of proposals to expand workers' access to paid sick leave, including mandating employer-provided paid sick leave or allowing employees to be compensated for overtime hours in paid leave in lieu of overtime pay.
"Proponents of federal policies to increase access to paid sick leave often cite its potential to improve worker well-being, workplace productivity and public health," the report said. "While recognizing possible gains, some observers have cautioned that federal leave policies should account for employers' costs or allow employers to tailor leave policies to the specific needs of their workplaces."
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