Sick Time Source of Debate

With flu season in full swing, many workers are paying more attention to their organizationsí sick day policies ñ and so are many of the presidential candidates. According to the Compensation Data annual survey of more than 5,000 employers, exempt employees have 8.4 sick days on average, while non-exempt have 7.6.

Most employers, 57.2 percent, allow carryover of sick days with 70 percent placing a cap on the number of days carried over. The average maximum number of carryover days for exempt employees was 40.1 and 37.6 for non-exempt. Government exempt employees are allowed to have a maximum of 82.3 sick days carried over, while health care organizations allow 61.6.

Some industries provide more sick days to their employees than the national average. Government workers have an average of 12 days and are followed closely by utilities with 11.8. Not-for-profits round out the top three with 11.2 days.

The hospitality industry has the lowest number of average sick days for exempt employees, 6.4. When compared to government workers, those in the service industry have 5.6 days less. Real estate and construction organizations follow with 6.5 days, while services and technology industries are both in third place with 6.8 days each.

Politicians at both the state and national level are calling for regulations which would require businesses to offer a minimum number of paid sick days, said Amy Kaminski, manager of marketing programs for Compdata Surveys. While this topic is currently being debated by presidential hopefuls, organizations should be aware of how new legislation could affect their current time off packages, especially small businesses who experience a larger impact by employee absences.

Currently, 30.1 percent of organizations offer Paid Time Off (PTO) packages, a formal plan grouping together all paid absences, including sick, vacation and personal time. Over the last five years, this number has increased by 38.7 percent. During their first year, exempt employees on PTO plans are typically offered 14.8 days off, while non-exempt are given 13.8.