SHRM Survey Findings: Paid Leave in the Workplace

Transcription

1 SHRM Survey Findings: Paid Leave in the Workplace November 13, 2013

2 Definitions Paid time off plans: a paid time off (PTO) plan includes sick, vacation and personal days all in one plan. This excludes paid holidays such as Labor Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. Paid vacation plans: a paid vacation plan is a stand-alone plan that provides employees with paid leave from work, which is typically taken in increments of days or weeks. This excludes paid holidays such as Labor Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. Paid sick leave plans: a paid sick leave plan is a stand-alone plan providing employees with paid leave for absences from work caused by illness for injury, appointments, and travel time to and from health care facilities. These plans sometimes provide paid leave for employees to care for immediate family members. Paid personal leave plans: a paid personal leave plan provides employees with paid leave for any purpose an employee chooses or any purpose that may not be covered by a paid vacation or paid sick leave plan. This excludes paid holidays such as Labor Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. Paid sabbatical leave: Sabbatical leave is paid time from work to accomplish professional development objectives. Paid civic leave: Paid civic leave refers to paid time away from work to perform civic obligations such as jury duty, military service or voter participation. Paid parental leave: paid parental leave refers to paid time away from work to care for a child. This leave can include maternity, paternity or adoption leave. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

3 Key Findings What types of paid leave do organizations offer to their full-time employees? Overall, 52% of the organizations offer paid time off (PTO) plans to their full-time employees. Two-fifths (41%) of organizations offer paid vacations plans, roughly one-third (34%) offer paid sick leave plans, and 22% offer paid personal leave to their full-time employees. Do organizations provide employees with a set number or an unlimited number of paid leave days per year? The vast majority of the organizations provide employees with a set number of PTO (94%), paid vacation (98%), paid sick leave (88%) and paid personal (95%) days per year. How does paid leave accrue? Methods of leave accrual vary by types of paid leave and among organizations. However, across various types of paid leave, the most frequent methods of leave accrual are by calendar year and pay period. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

4 Key Findings Is the paid leave provided to employees based on their length of service? The majority of the organizations offer PTO plans (88%) and paid vacation plans (92%) to employees based on their length of service at the organization. However, an employee s length of service has no impact on paid sick leave and personal leave plans. The majority of the organizations offer a set of number of paid sick leave (86%) and personal leave (89%) plans to their employees, regardless of their length of service with the organization. How many paid leave days per year are offered based on years of service? Among organizations offering paid leave based on employees length of service, paid leave days increase with employee tenure. For instance, the average days per year offered in PTO plans range from 14 days for employees with less than a year of service to 26 days for employees with 20 or more years of service. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

5 What do these findings mean for the HR profession? Workers today are placing increased importance on flexible scheduling and greater autonomy in managing their time away from the office. HR professionals are responding to this trend, with 52% saying that their organization offers paid time off, or PTO, plans for their full-time workers. PTO plans include vacation, sick and personal time under one umbrella. HR professionals developing new leave plans at their organization or updating current plans are increasingly considering the PTO option. There is a new trend in child care benefits that HR professionals should acknowledge. Research has shown that fathers have become more active in caring for infants, and the SHRM paid leave study confirms this trend: roughly one in five organizations (18%) offer paid maternity leave, and now nearly as many (16%) provide paid paternity leave for their workers. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

6 Paid Leave Plans Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

7 What type of paid leave plan(s) does your organization offer to its employees? Paid time off plan 52% Paid vacation plan 41% Paid sick leave plan 34% Paid personal leave plan 22% n = 518 Source: 2013 Employee Benefits Report Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

8 Does your organization provide a set number or an unlimited number of days per year for each paid leave plan? Paid vacation plan (n = 1,132) 2% 98% Paid personal leave plan (n = 615) 5% 95% Paid time off plan (n = 1,009) 6% 94% Paid sick leave plan (n = 1,281) 12% 88% Set number Unlimited number Note: Only respondents whose organizations offer respective paid leave plans to their full-time employees were asked this question. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

9 How does leave accrue in your organization s paid leave plan(s) for full-time employees? Paid time off plan (n = 949) 39% 27% 25% 3% 7% Paid vacation plan (n = 1,113) 31% 31% 25% 5% 8% Paid sick leave plan (n = 1,121) 30% 38% 18% 4% 10% Paid personal leave plan (n = 580) 7% 64% 15% 12% 2% Pay period Calendar year Anniversary date Fiscal year Other Note: Only respondents whose organizations offer a set number of days for respective paid leave plans to their full-time employees were asked this question. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

10 Is the leave provided by your organization s paid leave plan(s) based on an employee s length of service with your organization? Paid vacation plan (n = 1,132) 92% Paid time off plan (n = 951) 88% Paid sick leave plan (n = 1,129) 14% Paid personal leave plan (n = 615) 11% Note: Only respondents whose organizations offer a set number of days for respective paid leave plans to their full-time employees were asked this question. Only yes responses to this question are shown. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

11 Excluding paid holidays, how many days per year are offered in your organization s paid leave plan(s) based on employee s length of service? Paid time off plan (n = 839) Paid vacation plan (n = 1,044) Paid sick plan (n = 153) Paid personal plan (n = 56) Less than one year One year Two years Three years Four years Five to nine years 10 to 19 years 20 or more years Note: Number of days shown in table is the average. Only respondents whose organizations offer respective paid leave plan to their full-time employees based on their length of service were asked this question. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

12 Does your organization offer paid bereavement and sabbatical leave to your full-time employees? Paid bereavement leave (n = 2,238) 89% Paid sabbatical leave (n = 2,231) 4% Note: Only yes responses to this question are shown. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

13 Does your organization offer paid civic leave to your employees? Paid jury duty leave (n = 2,225) 59% Paid leave to vote in elections (n = 2,224) 39% Paid military leave (n = 2,221) 23% Note: Only yes responses to this question are shown. Paid jury duty and military leave in this question indicate paid leave beyond what is required by law. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

14 Does your organization offer paid parental leave to your employees? Paid maternity leave (n = 2,222) 18% Paid adoption leave (n = 2,223) 17% Paid paternity leave (n = 2,215) 16% Note: Only yes responses to this question are shown. Paid maternity leave in this question indicates leave other than what is covered by short-term disability or state law. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

15 Demographics Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

16 Demographics: Organization Industry Percentage Manufacturing 19% Professional, scientific and technical services 19% Health care and social assistance 17% Finance and insurance 12% Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 10% Educational services 9% Information 6% Transportation and warehousing 6% Accommodation and food services 5% Retail trade 5% Government agencies 4% Note: n = 2,258. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

17 Demographics: Organization Industry (continued) Percentage Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations 4% Utilities 4% Construction 3% Wholesale trade 3% Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2% Arts, entertainment, and recreation 2% Mining 2% Real estate and rental and leasing 2% Repair and maintenance 2% Personal and laundry services 1% Note: n = 2,258. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

18 Demographics: Organization Sector Privately owned for-profit 52% Nonprofit 21% Publicly owned for-profit 20% Government 7% n = 2,258 Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

19 Demographics: Organization Staff Size 1 to 99 employees 32% 100 to 499 employees 38% 500 to 2,499 employees 18% 2,500 to 24,999 employees 10% 25,000 or more employees 2% n = 2,258 Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

20 Demographics: Other What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey? Corporate (companywide) 75% Business unit/division 13% Facility/location 12% n = 2,258 Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

21 SHRM Survey Findings: Paid Leave in the Workplace Survey Methodology Response rate = 13% 2,258 HR professionals from a randomly selected sample of SHRM s membership participated in this survey Margin of error +/-2% Survey fielded June 5-July 13,

22 Additional SHRM Resources Paid Time Off Benefits Resource Page How to Develop and Administer Paid Leave Programs How to Create a Leave Donation Program Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

23 About SHRM Research For more detailed analyses by industry or organization size, please contact SHRM s Customized Benchmarking Service or visit For more survey/poll findings, visit For more information about SHRM s Customized Research Services, visit Follow us on Project leader: Christina Lee, researcher, SHRM Research Yan Dong, research intern, SHRM Research Project contributors: Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research Evren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research Copy editor: Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM

24 About SHRM The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world s largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 250,000 members in over 140 countries, the Society serves the needs of HR professionals and advances the interests of the HR profession. Founded in 1948, SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates. Paid Leave in the Workplace SHRM