In the United States there is no guarantee to employees for job-protected paid sick leave. Government employees are, for the most part, provided with sick leave; however only 57 percent of employees in the private sector have access to paid sick leave.[1] The voluntary nature of paid sick leave has led to unequal distribution of this benefit across employees both in terms of access to leave and the extent of the coverage. Inequalities can be witnessed based on gender,[2] marital status,[3] race,[4] age,[5] educational achievement,[6] socio-economic status,[7] one’s welfare status,[8] type of employment,[9] size of employer,[10] industry,[11] geographical location,[12] union status,[13] and whether one works in an urban or rural setting.[14] The severity and number of inequalities regarding the provision of leave highlight the fact that current public policies do not adequately support workers striving to balance the obligations of their personal and professional lives.
[1] Marlene Lee and Mark Mather, “U.S. Labor Force Trends,” Population Bulletin 63, no. 2 (2008): 12, http://www.prb.org/pdf08/63.2uslabor.pdf (accessed October 21, 2011).
[2] Levine, “Leave Benefits in the United States,” 18.
[3] Katherin Ross Phillips, “Getting Time Off: Access to Leave among Working Parents,” The Urban Institute Series B, no. B-57 (2004): 3, http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/310977_B-57.pdf (accessed September 11, 2011).
[4] MomsRising, “S: Sick Days, Paid,” http://www.momsrising.org/issues_and_resources/paid-sick-days-all (accessed October 10, 2011).
[5] Phillips, “Getting Time Off,” 2.
[6] 28 percent of employees with fewer than 12 years of education have access to paid sick leave compared to 85 percent of those with 5 or more years of university education. Levine, “Leave Benefits in the United States,” 20.
[7] Phillips, “Getting Time Off,” 3.
[8] Ibid., 1.
[9] More full-time than part-time workers receive paid leave. Levine, “Leave Benefits in the United States,” 13.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid. More private sector employees in white-collar occupations than blue-collar occupations or service occupations have access to leave with pay.
Half (55%) of retail workers and three -fourths (78%) of accommodations and food service workers are without paid sick days. MomsRising, “S: Sick Days, Paid.”
[12] More employees at firms in the New England and Middle Atlantic regions, compared to other regions, are provided paid leave. Levine, “Leave Benefits in the United States,” 13.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.