New research: How does your organization stack up on paid leave

For companies across the US, paid leave has become a key tool for improving talent attraction and retention, productivity, morale, and absenteeism. But many leaders grapple with balancing the benefits of expanded paid leave against other priorities like efficiency, agility, and profitability. To make the best decisions for their organization and better support their workers, leaders need reliable data on the current state of paid leave and how it might impact their own policies.

It's with this need in mind that we've partnered with JUST Capital to create A Guide for Corporate Leaders on Paid Leave Policies.¹ This essential toolkit helps provide a clear picture of paid leave among some of America's largest companies and helpful decision support on everything from paid time off (PTO) to paid sick leave, parental leave, family and medical leave, and dependent care. In partnership with Dayforce, JUST Capital has generated this toolkit through years of data collection, extensive research, and input from subject matter experts based on disclosures from a group of companies drawn from the Russell 1000.

Read the full report

With this toolkit in hand, you'll gain a clear understanding of:

• Details like the type, frequency, and length of different paid leave policies among some of America's largest companies
• Industry-specific trends
• Leading practices and ways of implementing them

A Guide for Corporate Leaders on Paid Leave Policies is the second report from our new WorkWell research series, which seeks to help employers empower their people by providing solutions in four key areas of human capital management: pay, leave, retirement, and scheduling. As part of this series, this new toolkit is an essential resource for leaders looking to implement paid leave policies that better support employees, increase productivity, and make their organization a pacesetter in their industry.

Key findings

Here's a quick look at some of the insights you can expect to find in the report:

Paid parental leave, sick leave, and PTO continues to expand

Overall, the companies assessed by this report offered an average of 11 weeks of paid parental leave to primary caregivers and eight weeks to secondary caregivers. But just as importantly, the number of companies offering parity between primary and secondary caregivers nearly tripled between 2020 and 2023, rising from 12% to over 30% during that period.

The most common amount of paid sick leave provided is 10 days.

Finally, we see a positive trend in paid time off (PTO) overall, with companies most frequently offering between 15 and 19 days of PTO.

Unlimited paid leave policies are a bold step, and they're becoming more common

Although still rare, unlimited paid leave policies have become much more common. Since 2020, the number of companies that offer them increased by 58% for unlimited PTO and 67% for unlimited sick leave. 

Gaps persist in workers' access to medical and family leave

Of the 100 largest companies in the Russell 1000 by US employment size, 53% disclose offering paid family and/or medical leave, with the majority disclosing only paid medical leave. 

Overall, these findings are great news for workers and advocates of stronger PTO policies, although there are still key areas where employers can better support their workers and drive even stronger business outcomes.

Moving forward

At Dayforce, we believe every employee deserves the opportunity to realize their potential and enjoy happy, healthy, and productive lives. We're committed to making work life better, and this report helps quantify how effective care policies are good for people and good for business through improved talent attraction and retention, productivity, morale, and absenteeism. It's the right thing to do for people and the smart thing to do for businesses.

Read A Guide for Corporate Leaders on Paid Leave Policies and share with your colleagues today to help your organization become an industry pacesetter.

1. Dayforce, Inc. is a financial supporter of JUST Capital and this "Guide for Corporate Leaders on Paid Leave Policies." This content reflects independent analysis by JUST Capital's research and rankings team.

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