December 30, 1998 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Majority of employees have unpaid
family leave benefit
Roughly two-thirds of employees in the private
sector and State and local governments could receive unpaid family leave, recent data
reveal.
In 1994, unpaid family leave was almost universally
available (93 percent) for full-time employees of State and local governments, while
medium and large employers reported in 1995 that 84 percent of full-timers were eligible
for unpaid family leave. In 1996, unpaid family leave was available to 48 percent of
full-time employees in small private establishments.
[Chart data—TXT]
Small employers provided an average of slightly more than 12 weeks of
unpaid family leave per year. This compared to about 14 weeks per year for medium and
large employers, and almost 28 weeks per year for State and local governments.
The availability of unpaid family leave was affected by the 1993 Family and Medical
Leave Act. This federal law requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide up to
12 weeks of unpaid leave for a variety of conditions. Other State laws with more generous
coverage or fewer restrictions also affect the incidence of unpaid family leave.
Data on unpaid family leave and other employee benefits are available from the BLS Employee Benefits Survey. Small
employers are defined as those with fewer than 100 employees. Medium and large employers
are those with 100 or more employees. For additional information, see "Unpaid
Family Leave" (PDF
21K), Compensation and Working Conditions, Winter 1998.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »