A little more than half of all employees in the natural resources, construction, and maintenance industries have access to paid sick leave, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals.
“Just as with health care, meditation rooms, and Foosball tables, sick leave is today treated as a perk — something certain employees get at certain companies,” Harvard Business Review writer Gretchen Gavett contends.
“The paradox is that although white-collar workers are more likely to have paid sick leave, they balk at using it; meanwhile, a whole host of people don’t have it and thus couldn’t use it even if they wanted to,” she adds. “In the end, all of this means that millions of people are going to work sick, albeit for different reasons and with different repercussions.”
Learn more about the U.S. statistics on paid sick leave at the Harvard Business Review.