1

William J. Wiatrowski

wiatrowski.william@bls.gov

William J. Wiatrowski is deputy commissioner, 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Pay protection during temporary absences from 

work: what we know and what we don’t know

Employer-provided sick leave plans generally provide pay 

protection to ill or injured workers. Data from the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics show that other benefits also may be used 

to protect workers from loss of income. This article explores 

the range of benefits available for pay protection and looks 

at how certain unique plans are treated in the BLS 

statistics. Further, the article examines the uses of sick 

leave and other pay protection plans, especially for family 

leave issues. What is known about various pay protection 

benefits is identified, as is a series of unknowns: issues 

related to pay protection that aren’t currently identified in 

BLS surveys.

Comparisons of employment practices across developed 

nations often point to differences in the availability of paid 

sick leave. For example, a 2009 report from the Center for 

Economic Policy and Research states, “[among] 22 

countries ranked highly in terms of economic and human 

development...the United States is the only country that 

does not guarantee that workers receive paid sick days or 

paid sick leave.”1 This report describes the mandatory 

nature of paid sick time in other countries, either through government-run social insurance programs or a 

requirement that employers provide such protection.2 In the United States, paid sick leave may be provided by 

employers, although such coverage is mandatory only in a few states and localities. Through its National 

Compensation Survey (NCS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, the Bureau) provides annual estimates of 

the percentage of workers covered by paid sick leave; in 2014, 61 percent of private industry workers had such 

coverage. But that single statistic does not give a complete picture of the pay protection benefits available to 

injured or ill workers. The goal of this article is threefold: to make clear what BLS data are available on pay 

protection for absences due to non-work-related injuries or illnesses, to explain how unique situations are treated 

in the BLS data, and to identify what information remains unknown.3

The NCS provides the following information:

September 2015
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

2

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

An estimated 61 percent of private industry workers were covered by a paid sick leave plan in 2014; 

coverage varied by occupation, wage level, and other factors.

Some employers provide other means of protecting pay while employees are unable to work because of 

sickness or injury; such short-term disability plans may be instead of or in addition to paid sick leave.

State temporary disability insurance (TDI) plans, mandated sick leave benefits, and consolidated leave 

plans are included in the NCS data as long as the employer is paying some portion of the cost of the benefit.

Considering all benefits paid for at least in part by employers, 70 percent of private industry workers had 

some form of pay protection in 2014.

Separately from the 70 percent of private industry workers who had some form of pay protection in 2014, 85 

percent of private industry workers had unpaid family leave available; such leave is guaranteed by the 

Family and Medical Leave Act. An estimated 12 percent of private industry workers had a specific paid 

family leave plan available.

Information also exists on pay protection and family leave coverage for state and local government workers, 

with 90 percent of these workers having some form of pay protection available in 2014.

But these facts don’t tell the whole story. The NCS does not provide the following information:

What percentage of workers have pay protection benefits that are not paid for by their employer? For 

example, some state TDI plans are funded entirely by employees and therefore are not included in the NCS 

data. Further, employees may purchase separate pay protection plans individually or through some group, 

such as a labor union. Plans with no employer cost are not included in the NCS.

To what extent can pay protection benefits be used for reasons other than an employee’s own illness or 

injury? Employees may be able to use paid sick leave or short-term disability benefits for family leave 

purposes, such as attending to a sick family member or bonding with an infant. No information is available 

on the extent of such provisions.

Even when employees are provided some form of pay protection, what restrictions are imposed by 

employers? For example, employees may have to request time off in advance, or employers may require 

medical documentation. Again, provisions such as these are not captured by the NCS.

To what extent can employees use other forms of paid leave, such as paid vacation or personal leave, to 

cover absences due to illness or injury? Moreover, what are the limitations on such usage? Can employees 

use leave one day at a time? Must an employee request leave in advance? The answers to these questions 

are unknown.

This article explores the topic of pay protection benefits in depth, looking at (1) the development of these benefits 

over time, (2) the treatment of unique situations, such as consolidated leave plans and state TDI programs, and (3) 

recent trends in some states and municipalities mandating that employers provide paid sick time. Current BLS data 

on access to sick leave and other forms of pay protection are presented and explained, including new estimates 

that look across benefits to identify the share of workers with some form of protection. Finally, the use of pay 

protection benefits to attend to family members, such as a newborn child or sick parent, will be explored.

Historic developments
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

3

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

Employers have provided an array of benefits to their workers for more than a century.4 The availability of benefits 

grew during the World War II years and beyond, fueled in part by limits on wage increases and the growing 

number of workers covered by collective bargaining agreements. Benefits provided under those agreements often 

were designed to treat all workers equally through fixed benefit amounts. In contrast, nonunion white-collar 

workers frequently had benefits that varied with their pay. The variations were tied in part to different ways that 

workers were paid (hourly vs. salaried) and whether or not they were covered by overtime and other provisions of 

the Fair Labor Standards Act (nonexempt vs. exempt).5 The following presents some examples of contrasting 

approaches to providing benefits:

While the historic construct represented by these approaches has evolved over time, in part in response to the 

decline in collective bargaining coverage, remnants of this pattern of providing benefits can still be seen today.

BLS has been collecting and reporting data on paid sick leave and on (what was originally called) sickness and 

accident insurance plans since the 1940s, first as part of its Occupational Wage Surveys and more recently as part 

of its Employee Benefits Survey (EBS).6 Data are currently available through the NCS, which incorporates EBS 

data in addition to data on employer costs for employee compensation. Available data include the percentage of 

workers who are covered by various types of benefits and details of those benefits, such as the average number of 

sick leave days granted each year.7

Paid sick leave plans have not changed much since the Bureau first began capturing data. These plans generally 

provide workers with full pay. Typically, employees receive a fixed number of days per year, and paid time off 

begins on the first day away from work. In contrast, sickness and accident insurance plans (also called accident 

and sickness insurance) have undergone numerous changes over the same period. Information captured by BLS 

over several decades beginning in the 1940s often identified these plans as one component of an employee health 

and welfare plan, which was sponsored either directly by the employer or through a union and usually also 

included health and life insurance. A typical sickness and accident insurance plan pays a fixed dollar amount per 

week, or a percentage of earnings up to a maximum dollar amount per week. Benefits begin after a waiting period 

and frequently last for up to 26 weeks. Benefits are provided on a per-disability basis, meaning that, for 

subsequent absences, a worker receives the full complement of days off but also has to fulfill the waiting period 

once again.

The Bureau updates its benefit definitions and the data elements that are captured and tabulated as employers’ 

practices change. In the case of benefits available to replace income during temporary non-work-related 

disabilities, BLS identified a number of changes in plans beginning in the 1990s. With the decline in the share of 

workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement, employee health and welfare plans and their sickness and 

accident insurance component became less prevalent. Some employers offered multiple sick leave plans, 

designed to cover a few incidental days as well as more lengthy absences. To complicate matters further, some 

Benefit Blue-collar, union, hourly, or nonexempt workers White-collar, nonunion, salaried, 

or exempt workers

Pay protection during 

temporary disability

Sickness and accident insurance (typically a fixed 

dollar amount)

Paid sick leave (percentage of salary)

Life insurance Fixed dollar amount Percentage of salary

Defined-benefit pension Dollar amount times years of service Percentage of salary times years of service
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

4

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

•

•

•

•

•

•

plans replaced full pay for some number of days before switching to partial pay replacement—and some plans 

varied these features with the employee’s length of service.

The changes over the years made it difficult to maintain the traditional distinction between sick leave and sickness 

and accident insurance and led BLS to change how such plans are classified. In 1998, the sickness and accident 

insurance component was renamed short-term disability benefits and the definition was expanded to include all 

insured, self-insured, and state-mandated plans (including unfunded plans) that provide benefits for each disability, 

as follows:8

Unfunded salary continuation. The employer pays the benefit from operating revenue and assumes all 

associated risks and expenses.

Noncommercially insured. The employer is required to have liquid assets corresponding to the projected 

liability of the plan. These plans must be registered with the U.S. Department of Labor and are guaranteed 

by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The employer assumes all risks and 

expenses of providing the benefit.

Commercially insured. The employer pays monthly premiums to an insurance carrier in exchange for the 

carrier assuming all risks of underwriting a short-term disability policy. The actuarially determined premium 

frequently is specified as a rate per $10 of weekly benefit per month. In some cases, the employer 

contributes a specific amount (often, a number of cents per hour worked for each employee) to a designated 

union fund that provides welfare benefits.

State temporary disability plans. The states of California, Rhode Island, Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York 

require TDI coverage. These plans provide temporary income for a limited period to workers who are unable 

to work because of non-work-related accidents or illnesses. California and Rhode Island mandated plans do 

not require employer contributions; Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York require employer contributions to 

disability plans.

In essence, the new short-term disability benefit included all short-term pay protection arrangements that failed to 

meet the strict definition of sick leave.

The current definitions are as follows:

Paid sick leave plans provide all or part of an employee’s earnings if the employee is unable to work 

because of a non-work-related illness or injury. Employees commonly receive their regular pay for a 

specified number of days off per year. Sick leave is provided on a per-year basis, usually expressed in days, 

and is never insured.

Short-term disability plans provide benefits for non-work-related illnesses or accidents on a per-disability 

basis, typically for a 6- to 12-month period. Benefits are paid as a percentage of employee earnings or as a 

flat dollar amount. Short-term disability benefits vary with the amount of predisability earnings, length of 

service with the establishment, or length of the disability.9

In making this change, a small number of plans that were previously categorized as sick leave plans were 

recategorized as plans offering short-term disability benefits. These plans typically provided both full and partial 

pay replacement over a long time (such as 26 weeks) and provided benefits on a per-disability basis (i.e., benefits 

renewed with each new absence). In such cases, employees who were previously identified as having two sick 
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

5

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

leave plans, one for incidental absences and one for longer term absences, were now counted as having one sick 

leave plan and one short-term disability plan.

In 2014, paid sick leave plans typically provided a fixed number of days per year, averaging 8 days per year after 5 

years of service. Nearly half of covered workers could accumulate sick days over multiple years, often up to a 

specified maximum, such as 30 days. Benefits began on the first day away from work. Days were granted over 

time (e.g., 1 day earned per month) or were provided in total at the beginning of the year (e.g., the full allowance of 

10 sick days received each January). Workers had days available until those days were exhausted; benefits did 

not renew for each disability.

Currently, there are a variety of approaches to providing short-term disability benefits. In 2014, a typical plan 

imposed a short waiting period, provided coverage for 26 weeks, and offered benefits that renew with each 

disability. Plans often provided a fixed percentage of earnings (commonly between 60 percent and 70 percent), up 

to a maximum weekly amount, the median being $584 in 2014.

Unique plans

Some employers provide a single amount of time off, rather than separate plans covering vacation time, sick time, 

personal time, and other time off. Referred to in the NCS as consolidated leave plans, such arrangements also 

may incorporate paid holidays, especially in workplaces that are always open, such as hospitals or hotels. BLS 

treats all time off provided under a consolidated leave plan as paid vacation time. In 2014, 77 percent of private 

industry workers received paid vacations and, of those, 29 percent were covered by a consolidated leave plan. 

Consolidated leave plans averaged 23 days per year after 10 years of service, 8 days more than traditional 

vacation plans. To the extent that a consolidated leave plan may be used for short-term illnesses or injuries, and 

where no other sick leave plan exists, the Bureau counts workers with a consolidated leave plan as also having a 

paid sick leave plan. Such workers are included in the share of workers with paid sick leave.

Several states have established TDI plans to provide pay protection for workers who experience short-term injuries 

and illnesses, and more recently, some states and municipalities have mandated that employers provide paid sick 

time. An example of the state TDI programs is the New York plan. Looking much like a traditional sickness and 

accident insurance plan, the New York TDI currently provides one-half of average weekly wages, up to a maximum 

of $170 per week for 26 weeks; benefits begin on the 8th day of disability.10 New Jersey has a similar plan. The 

plans in these states are funded at least in part by employer contributions; in some cases, the cost is shared by 

both employers and employees. Under certain circumstances, employers may meet the coverage requirement 

through their own plan, rather than by participating in the state plan.

New York’s and New Jersey’s TDI plans (including those in which employees share the cost of the plan) are 

included in the NCS as short-term disability plans. BLS estimates that 17 percent of workers with short-term 

disability benefits are covered by these legally required plans. California and Rhode Island also have TDI plans, 

although they are funded entirely by employees through mandatory payroll deductions.Because these plans do not 

include any employer funding, they are not counted as short-term disability plans in the NCS. If no other plan were 

available to workers in these states, such workers would be counted in the NCS as not having coverage. To the 

extent that workers in these states also had paid sick leave or short-term disability benefits funded at least in part 

by the employer, such coverage would be counted in the NCS.11
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

6

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

Hawaii does not have a plan but mandates that employers provide short-term illness and injury pay protection 

which meets minimum requirements. Employers can meet these requirements by purchasing insurance equal to 

the state minimum or by providing an employer plan equal to or greater than the minimum.12 Regardless of how 

benefits are provided, because they are funded by the employer, they are included in the NCS, either as paid sick 

leave or as short-term disability benefits, depending upon the features of the plan. In recent years, several states 

and municipal governments have passed laws that require certain employers to provide paid sick time. Some 

employers already meet this requirement through their existing paid sick leave or short-term disability benefits. 

Other employers must begin to offer appropriate plans that comply with the new law. An example is the 

Connecticut sick leave mandate, which went into effect in 2012. In general (although the law does include a variety 

of definitions and caveats), Connecticut employers with 50 or more employees are required to provide sick leave, 

to accrue at a rate of 1 hour of paid sick leave for each 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year.13

Because these benefits are funded by employers, they are included in the NCS.

The unique plans just described are included in BLS pay protection benefit estimates to the extent that they are 

funded at least in part by the employer. Excluded from survey estimates are plans funded entirely by the 

employee, including any pay protection plans purchased individually or through a group such as a labor union. 

Because of this limitation, the BLS estimates constitute a lower bound of the extent of pay protection available to 

U.S. workers. Further, some employees may be able to use available paid vacation time or paid personal leave 

days for absences due to illness or injury, although any restrictions on such use are unknown.

Who’s covered by pay protection benefits?

BLS currently captures and disseminates separate information on the availability of paid sick leave and the 

availability of short-term disability benefits. Table 1 shows the percentage of private industry workers with coverage 

for each of these benefits. A few things are clear from these data. First, some workers have access to both 

benefits. (The sum of the amounts of coverage for each benefit individually is greater than 100 percent for some 

categories of workers.) Next, there are differences in coverage by type of worker. For example, 82 percent of 

management, professional, and related workers have paid sick leave, compared with 51 percent of workers in 

sales and related occupations. Finally, coverage is limited among certain groups, such as those in service 

occupations, 40 percent of whose workers have access to paid sick leave and 20 percent to short-term disability 

benefits.

Characteristics Access to paid sick leave Access to short-term disability benefits

All workers 61 40

Worker characteristics

Occupation:

Management, professional, and related 82 54

Management, business, and financial 88 65

Professional and related 78 48

Service 40 20

Sales and office 63 38

Table 1. Percentage of workers with access to selected pay protection benefits, private industry, National 

Compensation Survey, March 2014

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

7

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

Characteristics Access to paid sick leave Access to short-term disability benefits

Sales and related 51 29

Office and administrative support 71 44

Natural resources, construction, and 

maintenance 54 40

Installation, maintenance, and repair 67 44

Production, transportation, and material 

moving 56 47

Production 58 54

Transportation and material moving 53 40

Full- or part-time status:

Full time 74 49

Part time 24 15

Nonunion or union status:

Nonunion 60 37

Union 70 68

Wage distribution:

Lowest 25 percent 30 16

Lowest 10 percent 20 12

Second 25 percent 64 37

Third 25 percent 73 50

Highest 25 percent 84 62

Highest 10 percent 87 67

Establishment characteristics

Industry:

Goods producing 59 54

Construction 42 29

Manufacturing 65 63

Service providing 61 37

Trade, transportation, and utilities 58 36

Wholesale trade 74 50

Retail trade 47 26

Transportation and warehousing 73 48

Utilities 91 51

Information 91 79

Financial activities 86 65

Finance and insurance 90 73

Credit intermediation activities 90 72

Insurance carriers 89 70

Real estate and rental and leasing 74 39

Professional and business services 64 44

Professional, scientific, and technical 

services 78 55

Administrative and waste services 44 26

Education and health services 74 34

Educational services 75 43

Junior colleges, colleges, and universities 81 50

Table 1. Percentage of workers with access to selected pay protection benefits, private industry, National 

Compensation Survey, March 2014

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

8

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

Note: Data indicate the percentage of workers with access to each benefit, without regard to the availability of other benefits.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

Although BLS no longer categorizes occupations as white collar and blue collar, the traditional difference in benefit 

coverage between these two groups of workers can still be seen. For example, sick leave is more prevalent among 

professional and related workers (78-percent coverage) than among production workers (58 percent). But the 

historic distinction between sick leave and short-term disability benefits among white-collar and blue-collar workers 

is less apparent: for all categories of workers, sick leave is more prevalent than short-term disability benefits.

One way to understand the overall extent of pay protection benefits is to look at the intersection of paid sick leave 

and short-term disability benefits. At one time, the Bureau tabulated the percentage of workers with some form of 

pay protection benefits, but it no longer provides such tabulations, in part because of the many changes in these 

types of benefits. For this article, data on the availability of pay protection benefits in 2014 were retabulated to 

identify the share of workers with at least one form of coverage. In 2014, 70 percent of private industry workers 

had some form of pay protection available for short-term non-work-related injuries or illnesses. (See table 2.)

Characteristics Access to paid sick leave Access to short-term disability benefits

Health care and social assistance 74 32

Leisure and hospitality 28 16

Accommodation and food services 24 17

Other services 54 27

Establishment size:

1–99 workers 52 29

1–49 workers 50 26

50–99 workers 56 37

100 or more workers 72 53

100–499 workers 65 46

500 workers 81 62

Table 1. Percentage of workers with access to selected pay protection benefits, private industry, National 

Compensation Survey, March 2014

Characteristics

Paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

Paid sick 

leave 

only

Short-term 

disability 

insurance only

Paid sick leave and 

short-term disability 

insurance

No paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

All workers 70 30 9 31 30

Worker characteristics

Occupation:

Management, 

professional, and related 88 33 6 48 12

Management, business, 

and financial 94 29 6 60 6

Professional and related 84 36 6 42 16

Service 48 27 8 12 52

Table 2. Percentage of workers with access to paid sick leave and short-term disability insurance benefit 

combinations, private industry, National Compensation Survey, March 2014

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

9

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

Characteristics

Paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

Paid sick 

leave 

only

Short-term 

disability 

insurance only

Paid sick leave and 

short-term disability 

insurance

No paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

Sales and office 71 32 7 31 29

Sales and related 58 29 7 22 42

Office and administrative 

support 79 35 7 37 21

Natural resources, 

construction, and 

maintenance

63 25 15 23 37

Installation, 

maintenance, and repair 78 33 10 34 22

Production, 

transportation, and 

material moving

72 25 16 30 28

Production 77 23 19 35 23

Transportation and 

material moving 67 27 14 26 33

Full- or part-time status:

Full time 83 34 9 39 17

Part time 32 17 8 6 68

Nonunion or union status:

Nonunion 68 31 8 29 32

Union 91 23 21 47 9

Wage distribution:

Lowest 25 percent 39 22 8 8 61

Lowest 10 percent 28 15 8 5 72

Second 25 percent 73 36 9 28 27

Third 25 percent 84 33 11 39 16

Highest 25 percent 92 30 8 54 8

Highest 10 percent 94 27 7 60 6

Establishment characteristics

Industry:

Goods producing 76 23 18 36 24

Construction 56 27 14 16 44

Manufacturing 84 21 20 44 16

Service providing 69 31 7 30 31

Trade, transportation, 

and utilities 68 32 10 26 32

Wholesale trade 83 33 10 41 17

Retail trade 57 31 10 16 43

Transportation and 

warehousing 84 35 10 38 16

Utilities 99 48 7 43 1

Information 94 15 3 76 6

Financial activities 90 25 4 61 10

Finance and insurance 94 22 4 68 6

Table 2. Percentage of workers with access to paid sick leave and short-term disability insurance benefit 

combinations, private industry, National Compensation Survey, March 2014

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

10

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

Note: Data indicate the percentage of workers with various combinations of benefits available to them.

Source: Special tabulations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

Looking at some of the categories of workers with access to either paid sick leave or short-term disability benefits, 

one observes patterns similar to those seen with the data on paid sick leave. Access was greatest among 

professional workers, union workers, those with higher average wages, and those in larger establishments. For 

groups that had limited access to paid sick leave, such as part-timers and workers in the lowest income group, 

access to some type of pay protection benefit continued to be low. For example, only 32 percent of part-time 

workers and 28 percent of those in the lowest 10 percent of the wage distribution had access to some pay 

protection benefit.

It was not unusual for workers to have access to both paid sick leave and short-term disability benefits. Again, 

such joint coverage was seen most often among professionals, union workers, those with higher incomes, and 

those in larger establishments. Access to short-term disability benefits without sick leave was generally rare. 

Characteristics

Paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

Paid sick 

leave 

only

Short-term 

disability 

insurance only

Paid sick leave and 

short-term disability 

insurance

No paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

Credit intermediation 

activities 94 22 4 68 6

Insurance carriers 94 24 5 65 6

Real estate and rental 

and leasing 76 37 2 38 24

Professional and 

business services 72 28 8 36 28

Professional, scientific, 

and technical services 86 31 8 47 14

Administrative and waste 

services 52 26 8 18 48

Education and health 

services 79 45 5 29 21

Educational services 82 39 7 36 18

Junior colleges, colleges, 

and universities 90 40 9 41 10

Health care and social 

assistance 78 46 4 28 22

Leisure and hospitality 36 20 8 8 64

Accommodation and 

food services 33 17 9 8 67

Other services 61 34 7 20 39

Establishment size:

1–99 workers 60 31 8 21 40

1–49 workers 57 31 7 19 43

50–99 workers 67 30 11 26 33

100 or more workers 82 29 10 43 18

100–499 workers 76 30 11 35 24

500 workers 90 27 9 54 10

Table 2. Percentage of workers with access to paid sick leave and short-term disability insurance benefit 

combinations, private industry, National Compensation Survey, March 2014
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

11

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

Among the more distinctive patterns of access to benefits was that of union workers, with 91 percent having some 

coverage. Of those, about one-quarter had sick leave only, one-quarter had short-term disability benefits only, and 

half had both benefits.

From time to time, BLS has attempted to determine how benefits are coordinated when workers are covered by 

both paid sick leave and short-term disability benefits. When employees receive more than one benefit, those 

benefits might be paid consecutively (after sick leave is exhausted, short-term disability benefits begin) or there 

might be some offset feature (both plans pay benefits at the same time, with sick leave making up the difference 

between the short-term disability benefit and full pay). Eventually, BLS stopped trying to determine how benefits 

worked together, because the number of coordination arrangements became unmanageable and survey 

respondents sometimes did not know how—and indeed, even whether—their benefits were coordinated.

Using pay protection benefits

Although the Bureau publishes information on the share of workers who are covered by pay protection benefits 

and information on plan provisions, such as the duration of benefits, what is not available is information on how 

such benefits may be used and on whether there are any restrictions on usage. For example, it may not be clear 

whether benefits are available for medical visits or to care for a sick relative.

Of particular interest is the availability of benefits for new mothers and fathers. Clearly, benefits can be expected to 

cover the time that a new mother is incapacitated; however, it is less clear whether these benefits for fathers and 

mothers can be used to bond with their newborns or, for that matter, with newly adopted children. The Bureau 

captures information on the availability of paid and unpaid parental leave separately from data on paid sick leave 

and short-term disability benefits. Unpaid parental leave is frequently available: in 2014, 85 percent of private 

industry workers had such time off available. Such broad availability of unpaid parental leave is consistent with the 

provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act.14 In contrast, only 12 percent of private industry workers were 

covered by a separate paid parental leave plan, although it is unknown whether existing sick leave or short-term 

disability plans may be used for parental leave purposes. (As noted earlier, BLS data on employee benefits are 

limited to plans paid for at least in part by employers. Paid family leave plans funded entirely by employees are not 

included.)15

BLS surveys of employee benefits in the 1990s included some questions on whether sick leave could be used for 

other purposes. In 1997, among full-time employees in larger private establishments, 59 percent of those with sick 

leave benefits could use the time off for medical appointments and 52 percent could use the time to care for a sick 

child. BLS discontinued these questions in part because they were difficult for employers to answer; in some 

cases, there was no policy covering the topic.

Another unknown has to do with the restrictions imposed on the use of pay protection benefits. Is there a limit on 

the number of days that can be used for a specific purpose, such as care of a sick relative? Must employees 

obtain approval in advance to take time off? Are they required to provide medical documentation? Such barriers 

may limit the availability of pay protection benefits or may make employees reluctant to request time off.

State and local government workers
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

12

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

The NCS also provides data on employee benefits for state and local government workers. In 2014, 89 percent of 

these workers had paid sick leave benefits available and 23 percent had access to short-term disability benefits. 

Looking at table 3 reveals that 90 percent had some coverage.Although the share of state and local government 

workers with pay protection benefits is greater than the share of private industry workers with such benefits, it is 

important to remember differences in the occupation profile of these two sectors. State and local governments 

have a high concentration of professional, technical, and clerical workers, as well as protective service workers. 

Jobs in retail trade and manufacturing are less prevalent in government. Looking at comparable occupations, one 

readily sees that the share of government management, professional, and related workers with pay protection 

benefits (91 percent) is similar to that of their private industry counterparts (88 percent). And while workers in both 

sectors had a mix of pay protection benefits, it was rare for state and local government workers to have only a 

short-term disability plan. Finally, similar to the situation in private industry, workers in state and local government 

often had a formal unpaid family leave plan (94 percent) while specific paid family leave plans were less common, 

at 16 percent (percentages not shown in table).

Characteristics

Paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

Paid sick 

leave 

only

Short-term 

disability 

insurance only

Paid sick leave and 

short-term disability 

insurance

No paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

All workers 90 67 1 22 10

Worker characteristics

Occupation:

Management, professional, 

and related 91 69 1 21 9

Professional and related 91 71 0 20 9

Teachers 89 70 0 18 11

Primary, secondary, and 

special education school 

teachers

96 77 0 19 4

Service 86 63 1 22 14

Sales and office 90 66 1 23 10

Office and administrative 

support 91 67 1 23 9

Natural resources, 

construction, and 

maintenance

95 67 1 27 5

Installation, maintenance, 

and repair 97 69 1 27 3

Production, transportation, 

and material moving 89 68 1 20 11

Full- or part-time status:

Full time 99 74 1 24 1

Part time 44 32 3 9 56

Nonunion or union status:

Nonunion 98 70 1 27 2

Union 84 65 1 18 16

Wage distribution:

Table 3. Percentage of workers with access to paid sick leave and short-term disability insurance benefit 

combinations, State and local government workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2014

See footnotes at end of table.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

13

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

Note: Data indicate the percentage of workers with various combinations of benefits available to them.

Source: Special tabulations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

Summary

Although debates about the availability of pay protection and parental leave benefits, including concerns about 

restrictions placed on the use of such benefits, are certain to continue, it is important to have impartial and 

complete data. This article presents information captured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on a variety of pay 

protection plans; but it also identifies gaps in knowledge. In sum, some groups of workers have more widespread 

coverage than others; the mix of plans lays bare different features, including various waiting periods and some 

plans with only partial-pay provisions; the use of plans for family needs is not certain; and other restrictions are 

unknown.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Characteristics

Paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

Paid sick 

leave 

only

Short-term 

disability 

insurance only

Paid sick leave and 

short-term disability 

insurance

No paid sick leave or 

short-term disability 

insurance

Lowest 25 percent 76 58 2 17 24

Lowest 10 percent 63 50 2 12 37

Second 25 percent 94 70 1 24 6

Third 25 percent 94 70 1 23 6

Highest 25 percent 97 72 0 24 3

Highest 10 percent 98 71 0 27 2

Establishment characteristics

Industry:

Service providing 90 67 1 22 10

Education and health 

services 90 70 1 20 10

Educational services 90 70 0 20 10

Elementary and secondary 

schools 91 71 0 19 9

Junior colleges, colleges, 

and universities 88 68 0 19 12

Health care and social 

assistance 90 66 2 23 10

Hospitals 93 70 1 22 7

Public administration 91 65 1 24 9

Establishment size:

1–99 workers 80 61 2 18 20

1–49 workers 73 53 3 17 27

50–99 workers 90 72 0 18 10

100 or more workers 91 68 1 23 9

100–499 workers 88 69 1 19 12

500 workers 92 68 1 24 8

Table 3. Percentage of workers with access to paid sick leave and short-term disability insurance benefit 

combinations, State and local government workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2014
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

14

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

William J. Wiatrowski, "Pay protection during temporary absences from work: what we know and what we don’t 

know," Monthly Labor Review, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2015, https://doi.org/10.21916/mlr.

2015.32

NOTES

1 Jody Heymann, Hye Jin Rho, John Schmitt, and Alison Earle, Contagion nation: a comparison of paid sick day policies in 22 

countries (Washington, DC: Center for Economic Policy and Research, May 2009), https://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/paidsick-days-2009-05.pdf.

2 Separate from the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that are presented in the material which follows, the U.S. Department of 

Labor has considerable information on sick leave programs in the United States and other countries. Information is available at https://

www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave/sickleave.

3 The article focuses exclusively on pay protection programs available for non-work-related injuries and illnesses. Work-related 

injuries and illnesses generally are covered by workers’ compensation programs. In addition, the data presented are on employees; 

the survey does not cover self-employed individuals.

4 For more information on the history of compensation, see Richard E. Schumann, “Compensation from World War II through the 

Great Society,” Compensation and Working Conditions, Fall 2001, pp. 23–27. A version of this article, posted in January 2003, is at 

https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/cwc/compensation-from-world-war-ii-through-the-great-society.pdf.

5 The Fair Labor Standards Act established minimum-wage overtime pay, and other employment standards, and identified worker 

groups that are covered by, and worker groups that are exempt from, those standards. The common terminology is that nonexempt 

workers are covered by the standards and exempt workers are not. More information on the Fair Labor Standards Act and covered 

and exempt workers is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/index.htm.

6 The Occupational Wage Surveys provided wage and benefit data on selected occupations by geographical area and in specific 

industries; surveys were conducted from the 1940s through the 1990s, at which time they were replaced by the National 

Compensation Survey. An example of data from the Occupational Wage Surveys is found in John E. Buckley, “Variations in holidays, 

vacations, and area pay levels,” Monthly Labor Review, February 1989, pp. 24–30, https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1989/02/art3full.pdf. 

The EBS, originally the Level of Benefits Survey, began in 1980 and became part of the NCS in the 1990s. Details about, and current 

data from, the EBS are available in “National Compensation Survey—benefits,” Employee Benefits Survey (U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics), https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/

7 For information on the variety of data available from the NCS, see National Compensation Survey (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), 

https://www.bls.gov/ncs/.

8 The change in benefit definition is described in “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation historical listing (annual), 1986–

2001” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/ecechist.pdf.

9 For additional definitions of employee benefit plans from the NCS, see “National Compensation Survey: glossary of employee 

benefit terms,” Employee Benefits Survey (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 8, 2014), https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/

glossary20132014.htm.

10 The New York plan also has “enhanced” higher maximum weekly benefits. For details about the plan, see “Disability 

benefits” (New York State Insurance Fund), https://ww3.nysif.com/.

11 The focus of the NCS and its predecessor surveys is to provide information on employer-provided benefits, including benefits 

provided by third parties (such as a union or government) but paid for at least in part by the employer. For a look at data on employer 

costs for short-term disability benefits, see Kristen Monaco, “Disability insurance plans: trends in employee access and employer 

cost,” Beyond the Numbers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 2015), https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-4/disability-insuranceplans.htm.
 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

15

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

12 For more information on the Hawaii requirement, see “About Temporary Disability Insurance” (State of Hawaii, Disability 

Compensation Division, 2015), http://labor.hawaii.gov/dcd/home/about-tdi/.

13 For more information on the Connecticut plan, see Connecticut General Statute 31-57r—paid sick leave (Connecticut Department 

of Labor, 2002–15), http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/wgwkstnd/SickLeave.htm.

14 For information on available benefits from the Family and Medical Leave Act, including restrictions on the availability of benefits, 

see “Leave benefits: family and medical leave (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/benefits-leave/fmla.htm.

15 The California State Disability Insurance program, funded entirely by employee contributions, includes provisions for paid family 

leave. See “Fact sheet: paid family leave (PFL)” (State of California, Employment Development Department), http://www.edd.ca.gov/

pdf_pub_ctr/de8714cf.pdf.

RELATED CONTENT

Related Articles

What is a benefit plan? Clarifying the NCS definition as health and retirement benefits evolve, Monthly Labor Review, July 2011.

Leisure and illness leave: estimating benefits in combination, Monthly Labor Review, February 2009.

The National Compensation Survey: a wealth of benefits data, Monthly Labor Review, August 2004.

Incidence benefits measures in the National Compensation Survey, Monthly Labor Review, August 2004.

Related Subjects

Benefits Leave benefits